Child of Lightning
by Katie Macpherson
Summary: Kicking ass and taking names, that's what Natasha Romanov did for a living. She doesn't trust and she doesn't look back. Until one night when a blonde man with a sharp wit catches her attention. Little does she know that he will provide her with a completely unexpected surprise...a beautiful baby girl named Hermione. Life as the Black Widow just got a lot more complicated.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Kicking ass and taking names. That's what Natasha Romanov did for a living. She was the tops in her field and one of the most sought after espionage agents in the world. And she knew it. She played second fiddle to no one and could take down any man before he could even reach for his gun. She'd proven again and again why she was the best, probably from all the people they would send to take her out and who she all sent back in body bags.

And today was just another one of those days. She was the most capable and reliable agent in the world which was something that was desperately needed in the current time.

Natasha had spent the past decade training and spying for her country. Living and working with the agents of the Red Room had been exhausting, although she wasn't likely to admit that to anyone. Though with the sixteen hour training days and the endless supplements and serums she had had to take daily, she hadn't had much time to think.

All of it had paid off though. She was stronger faster and smarter than ever before. The Red Room had been obsessed with experimentation and she had been one of their guinea pigs. Thank God they didn't turn her into some kind of mutant. But the results were something even she didn't fully understand.

For one thing, it had expanded her brain power. Thoughts flowed through her mind with amazing fluidity and she could comprehend and assess each one within seconds. It took her mere days to learn languages which would have taken her months to do before. Her metabolism was faster than ever, and her brain was in a constant state of neurogenesis. Her cells were constantly replacing themselves and she tired much slower than the average person.

Natasha Romanov was in effect, a superhuman. She was ten times more agile than any of her peers and along with her years of training in mixed martial arts, she was the epitome of a living breathing weapon. To top it all off, she was an incredibly beautiful woman.

Yet for all of her wonderful assets, the one thing the Black Widow lacked was an ability to question authority. It was something she never did. Not for lack of wanting to, but because she didn't see how it would benefit her to do such a thing.

After all, she had been housed and cared for by them since she was ten years old. It hadn't been an ideal life, and it certainly hadn't been easy. But it had been fulfilling, she couldn't deny that.

Natasha had never allowed herself to question whether or not she was happy. In her mind, happiness and fulfillment meant the same thing. She was a professional killer, it was how she got paid, and in truth, she still didn't know how she felt about that. Most of the time, she just didn't think about it. Her career and her life belonged to her country and that was quite enough for her.

However, if there was one thing that irritated her, it was situations where the only weapon she was allowed to use was diplomacy.

Right now, that was what was happening. She was standing in one of the most beautiful ballrooms in Moscow. It had been booked for a prestigious diplomatic conference between members of the Soviet Union's government and those of the United States. Her superiors had insisted she be in attendance to watch and perhaps influence the proceedings as only she could.

So it was here on this Saturday night in early October that she found herself in the ballroom of this enormous hotel, wearing a backless black floor-length dress, holding a glass of wine in her hand and wearing heels that she was sure were outlawed by the Geneva Convention after World War II.

She was standing by the buffet table, listening to the endless stream of dignitaries go on and on about the foreign budgets and the arms race and nuclear weapons until she wanted to scream and pull her hair out.

Of course she would never voluntarily do something so undignified and beneath her, so instead, the red head took a deep breath and steeled herself for calm. _Easy girl, only a few more hours, _she chanted to herself.

Aside from tuning in and out of grating conversations, she was also trying to ignore some of the very obvious lustful looks that were being sent her way.

Natasha inwardly sighed and took a sip from her wine glass, savouring the taste. The only time she ever had alcohol was at a social gathering and those didn't happen that often.

_Why didn't they send Demetrio instead?_ Natasha wondered to herself, still feeling irritated. The dark haired Russian was far better than her in diplomatic situations. But then as the beautiful red head looked around, she began to understand why she had been sent and it disgusted her.

Her gaze drifted around the room at all of the old dignitaries and the young women hanging off their arms, eyes sparkling. Natasha wanted to laugh. These men were so stupid. That thought that these woman draped from them and clinging to their every word would prove to be loving partners when all the women were waiting for was for their hearts to fail and then they would inherit their millions.

She took a sip from her glass again. Her gaze began to wander again, looking over the body guards and security officials of the diplomats, mentally playing a game of how long it would take her to take each one of them down.

The one by the pillar which was wrapped in gold garland might take a little longer. His height would be an advantage, while on the other hand it might work for her if she were facing more than one at once. She could use him as a springboard and land on the back of the guy next to him, wrap herself around him and take him down before going for the legs of the previous guy. His strength was another disadvantage she thought as she glanced casually at his bulging biceps. She would have to be faster than him in order to take him down. And then barring him, there was still the guy standing next to the fountain which would-

Wait a minute…

Natasha frowned as she narrowed her gaze in the direction of the large marble fountain that dominated the middle of the ballroom and was impossible to miss. It was about fifty feet away from her and was spewing water in what the guests must have thought was a relaxing manner, but she just found it irritating.

Standing there in front of it, where there had previously been nothing, a man had materialized. He was standing perfectly still, lightly gripping the stem of a wine glass in his right hand. He had the most golden hair the Black Widow had ever seen which was neatly tied back so it looked incredibly well groomed. He was dressed in a suit that was identical to the ones every other male in the room was wearing, but somehow everyone else's looked incredibly shabby in comparison. He had high well defined features and his eyes were flickering around the room so quickly she could barely follow them. The orbs were deep blue and crackled with electricity. His posture was calm like hers but she had a feeling that he would be ready to jump into action at a moment's notice of the situation demanded it.

That made her even more curious. It was obvious from her three second perusal that he had been well trained. But she had never seen him before. He couldn't be one of theirs, she would know about it.

She glanced down at her wine glass and took another sip. But after a millisecond, she glanced up again, having the sensation that someone was burning a hole in her head.

Natasha was confronted with a pair of stormy blue eyes the like of which she had never seen before. If she was anyone but a Red Room agent, and one of those pathetic woman hanging off the arms of the diplomats, she might have said his stare made her weak at the knees.

But she wasn't so it didn't.

She was a little curious though. He would bear watching to say the very least.

Since Stalingrad, nothing had intimidated her, but she would admit he might be someone that she could be wary of. As she turned her attention back to the tall blonde, she blinked, realizing he had disappeared. A slight frown coloured her features. What the hell? He had been right there where did he go? Even she didn't move that fast.

Natasha didn't believe in her imagination making up images, she believed in cold hard facts, it's what she had based her life on.

No matter, the potential threat had resolved itself. The room had quieted by this time as an older man wearing a dark grey suit with decorative medals pinned to it made his way slowly to the platform at the front of the room to make a speech.

Natasha knew upon first glance that it was the American foreign ambassador so she decided that this might be worth paying attention to. But no less than two minutes in, she was back to feeling irritated.

Would this night never end? She could already feel the speech grating on her nerves as she as she didn't even try to concentrate. Diplomats were known for their many gratifications and long winded speeches because they had to first address everyone in the room on the basis of politeness. She rolled her eyes.

"If more people focused on doing things rather than simply talking about them and following that idiotic protocol, the world would be a much different place," she muttered under her breathe.

"I couldn't agree more," a deep voice next to her said.

Thanks to her training, Natasha was able to keep from showing her surprise as being snuck up on anyway, but the thought worried her. Was she losing her edge?

Immediately, she turned to face the same blonde haired man from earlier. His sapphire blue eyes met her green ones calmly. Up close he was even more striking. When he moved it felt like the gravity of the room had shifted. The smell of ozone was intense and she could feel an odd energy radiating off of him in waves.

For a brief second she didn't say anything and then she remembered her training, because the cool smirk returned as she once again turned to face the proceedings.

"I suppose if one were forced to watch diplomatic procedures every day that one would want to rip one's hair from its roots."

Natasha frowned. His accent was deep and cultured, she wondered what country he was from because he certainly wasn't Russian. In some ways his tonal quality sounded almost British but she couldn't be sure.

But for the sake of diplomacy and her own boredom, she would play his game. She nodded and raised an eyebrow towards the wind bag gracing the platform.

"My kinsman are risking their lives worldwide and these gentlemen to use the term loosely are in need of lobotomies if they think that a few mere words are going to deter the west and the Soviets from nuclear war," she replied casually but she was sure some irritation colored her tone.

This statement caused an amused chuckle to sound deep in the throat of the man beside her and despite herself, Natasha felt her lips quirk upwards. It was a nice sound, any woman would think so.

"Perhaps not, but you cannot blame them for trying to keep the world from dissolving into mass panic. Nothing would be accomplished like that."

She nodded. He did bring up a valid point, it was in their best interests to keep civilians calm otherwise nothing would get done. However, Natasha didn't really approve of the methods of the government to stop up the ears of the people. They only did it to ensure their seats in office, another concept which disgusted her.

"You seem vexed," the tall blonde beside her noted. Natasha raised an eyebrow, the only physical reaction to her inward surprise. It wasn't very often that she met someone who could read her. She had to work with a person for years in order for them to be able to do that. And this stranger had been standing beside her for a matter of mere minutes.

But she couldn't let him know that so instead she picked at a non-existent piece of lint on her dress and flicked it away, taking a few seconds to compose her features into bored disinterestedness.

"Perhaps it's because I would much rather not spend my evenings listening to the half-baked words of politicians who would much rather amuse themselves with sticking their heads in the sand and striving for international cooperation then to listen to the screams of those dying in the damned proxy wars they themselves created," these last few words were said between sips from the wine glass though she did feel some irritation begin to rise because it was something she had thought about before.

There was a moment of silence between the two. After a moment, Natasha wondered what his reaction to what she said would be and so she risked a glance up at him. She was surprised to see that he was watching her curiously and that his expression was one of amused surprise.

"You speak as one who has frequented the battlefield," he surmised, his sapphire eyes surveying her calmly. Natasha nodded, figuring that conversation might help her to understand more who this stranger was and to discern what his intentions were.

She was far too well trained to simply stand there and enjoy the attention of a good looking man, although she could appreciate the fact that he seemed to be as intense as she was.

"I fight in the shadows, but yes, I have been there many times and these fools think that words are adequate weapons for ending wars when the actual armistice is something much more complicated than they would dare to think?"

"Really? And just what do you think that would be?"

Natasha turned to face her companion and found that in all this time he hadn't looked away from her. In fact he was looking at her as if she were the only person in the room, a face which surprised her, though she certainly didn't show it.

"If I could explain it to you, then it wouldn't be complicated now would it?" she said quietly.

His response surprised her.

He threw his head back and laughed, not a loud laugh but one that sounded both amused and surprised by her quick wits.

"You are very interesting," he said when his laughter had stopped.

She smirked. "You'd be surprised how often I'm told that."

"Really and just how often is that?" he asked.

Natasha, while finding the subtle innuendos of political etiquette grating and exasperating, she none the less knew enough to understand when someone was mildly teasing her.

Most times, she would be somewhat annoyed as she would feel that she was being patronized, but this time, it felt like a small relief to match wits with someone who was not altogether boring and obsessed with foreign policy.

"I suppose I pride myself on leaving people intrigued, but that can have people easily remember who I am which does not work in my favor," she returned easily.

For the next few minutes during which the American Ambassador was droning on and on about fighting the good fight and relying on deterrence and mutually assured destruction to prevent a nuclear war, Natasha and her companion casually verbally sparred.

It was by no means flirtatious, she was looking out for her own interests and looking to see whether he meant ill or good and he was thoroughly amused and impressed by the beautiful red head. She was obviously very intelligent and highly aware of the causes of the war something which was to be commended for most women would have found the concept mundane and tedious.

But she didn't, and that was cause to heighten his curiosity of her. After a few minutes of speaking with her, it was easy to see that she was born and bred using her fists and weapons as communicators. She might not have looked like it upon first glance, but the blonde could tell that she was uncommonly tough and used to be in situations where all she had to rely on were her instincts and rationale.

Plus the fact that she was beautiful didn't hurt anything either.

"So where do you come from if I may ask?" Natasha asked casually. She wasn't usually so forward, but he wouldn't know the difference and she was curious to his motives for coming over to talk to her. It wasn't every day that a striking man like him paid her attention and that had put her system on first level alert mode.

He paused as he looked away from her for the first time. This of her course served to narrow her vision as she considered the possibilities.

"I suppose you could say that I'm like you. I don't really call anywhere my home. I go where I am sent and take down those I must," he surmised neatly before turning back to meet her narrowed gaze.

Natasha frowned, that all sounded a little too….simple. Her life was nothing but messes carefully disguised by foreign passports and diplomatic immunity. He just described her life in a nutshell. It almost made her feel a little…..uncomfortable.

"Hmm I don't think you seem as displaced as all that," she replied calmly, hoping to take her thoughts off of herself. "You seem more like someone who does have someplace to be, yet avoid it for some unknown reason."

If she had been anyone else, she wouldn't have noticed the way the muscle in his right cheek jumped slightly. Other than that, he made no more expression then she did.

"You seem to be quite perceptive," he noted and Natasha smirked. "I have to be, it's my job."

A second later, she almost cursed aloud. Why the hell had she said that? He didn't need to know what her job was!

_You idiot!_ She screamed mentally. Natasha turned her eyes back to the speech that was slowly but surely winding down. She also ignored the eyebrow he raised at her.

"I see."

Thankfully that was all he said and she felt herself relax soon after. There was a smattering of applause and she looked up to see that the American ambassador had concluded his speech and was slowly leaving the platform.

A sigh from her companion garnered her attention. His wine glass was empty and he looked somewhat pensive.

"I supposed now is as good a time as any to take my leave," he murmured almost to himself. Then he looked down at her. "But it is a shame to have to cut our conversation short."

This time, she raised both eyebrows. "Yes it is isn't it?"

"And I regret that I haven't even learned your name," he said softly. Natasha bit the edge of her lip as she looked back at him. She knew what he was subtly asking as she was debating within herself whether or not it was worth the risk.

"Natasha," she said calmly, reverting to the name she always used as a cover. "My name is Natasha."

He then did something she didn't expect. He reached down, gently took her hand, raised it to his lips and pressed a feather soft kiss to her knuckles, his eyes never leaving hers the whole while.

"It was a unique pleasure meeting you Natasha. I am known by the name of Thor."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Natasha stalked down the hall of the bunker.

_The time for action my ass!_ She mentally snarled. Normally, she wouldn't let herself get this visibly angry, but they were pulling her off the case she was working on.

This crackpot of a fool who called himself part of the higher end of the Russian Mafia, she had reason to believe had been selling nuclear secrets to the Americans. It had been a high priority case and one she had been seriously close to cracking. She had been about to make the maggot squirm. If there was anything she hated more, it was a traitor. The man didn't deserve to be called a Russian.

But then…..oh then she had been called into the Head office yesterday and Stefan had had the nerve to question her competency in this matter!

Didn't they know she was the best they had? Didn't they know they wouldn't have had half the information and weapons they did because of her?

No, and now all of her plans for wresting information from the Soviet spy had gone to hell. You break one petty protocol and you're pegged for life.

So there were times when she received different orders and did them not entirely by the book. There was no collateral damage. But the second she put one toe out of what they deemed was the line, she had Stefan on her ass.

So they had given her something else to do. As if they thought they could just pull her on and off any case they wanted! But they had and her new orders were gripped tightly in her fist.

She stopped as she neared the training area and scanned them again in disgust.

The Black Widow was being sent to America to retrieve a weapon the late Howard Stark had worked on. His son Anthony was too immature to have taken over the family business and had appointed a naive CEO in place which meant Stark Industries and their assets were vulnerable.

Stark Industries had been a thorn in the side of the Red Room for a while. Along with espionage they were the top weapons supplier to Russia, but Stark Industries was way ahead of its time and this new missile defense initiative that the U.S government had set up using Stark technology was absolutely ingenious, even Natasha would grudgingly admit that.

But if she were honest with herself, she wasn't angry about the fact that she was being pulled off an assignment. Sure it was irritating, but she would have been able to deal with it. What bothered her the most, questioning her competency aside, was the fact that someone was going with her to America!

Didn't they know that the Black Widow worked alone? It was how she had raked in all the information and people she did. How she was supposed to retrieve this weapon if she was constantly having to worry about watching her back?

She hadn't worked with a partner in God knew how long and she didn't want to have to go through the process and endless paperwork if her partner was killed on the job. Yeah that sounded awful, sue her. The Black Widow worked alone.

_What the hell kind of importance could this weapon possibly be of to us?_ She thought as she stormed down the hall.

Brezhnev was a fool! Natasha hated Americans, they were the most pompous arrogant lazy group of people she had ever seen. They did nothing and expected great things to fall into their laps.

Of the handful of times she had been to America, it had always been for political functions, and never good ones.

She hated that when they needed someone for diplomatic functions they always sent the females. Didn't matter that all the females in the Red Room had been subject to the Serum, and were not just as physically fit and agile as the men. There was still a genetic predisposition to believe that men were still tougher and women were better suited for talking.

A prime example had been that damnable function she had gone to the week earlier. Oh well, at least the time hadn't been a total loss. Interesting conversation with that one blonde had restored her faith that humanity wasn't made up of a bunch of mindless sheep.

At the end of the hall, she made a quick turn to the right and found herself outside of Stefan's office once more. She took a deep inward breath before entering. Not so much as for calm so much as so she wouldn't lose her temper whenever she was introduced to whoever was going with her on this American joyride.

But when the words: "Enter," rang forth and when she pushed the door open, she was not expecting to see the person sitting in one of the chairs across from Stefan.

As of the executive directors of the Red Room Stefan had an enviable office. It was at least thirty square feet and had a large cherry oak desk. Behind the desk, and reaching to the ceiling were a pair of dark oak book shelves utterly full to bursting with books. The room was painted a dull brown and on the far side were floor to ceiling glass windows.

But Natasha barely noticed any of that.

What she did see was a familiar form sitting in one of the plush chairs in the set of two that was across from Stefan. A tall muscular form in dark clothes like her and long blonde hair that touched his shoulders but was perfectly groomed and not a bit scraggly. At the sound of the opening door his eyes turned toward it, stormy blue eyes that crackled with electricity.

Natasha met those blue eyes with astonishment. Could her week possibly get any worse?

Sitting in the chair next to her was the same blonde from the international diplomacy conference the week before!

He was just as striking as she remembered, not that she's thought about him that was. He had been an interesting anomaly, but one that she was perfectly content to let pass her by into something that was a onetime thing only.

Never once did she think that she would ever see him again. Yet here he was.

"Ah, there you are!" came Stefan's booming voice and Natasha fought the urge to cringe. She hated matters of administration, it was almost as bad as diplomacy.

"Come sit Natasha, I was just about to begin the briefing," Stefan said which forced the red head to turn her attention onto her superior.

Stefan was an imposing man with dark hair, hard brown eyes and at six feet three inches towered over her five foot nine frame. She knew the blonde….Thor was his name? was likely to be taller, but he wasn't the one she was focusing on right now.

Stealing herself for calm, Natasha walked carefully over to the chair next to the blonde and slowly sat down appearing the epitome of grace, confidence and boredom. She ignored the smirk the blonde sent her and focused all of her attention on Stefan, honing her vision to narrow in on anything but him.

"Now that the two of you have arrived I may begin. I trust the both of you have received your briefing statements?"

They both nodded.

"Excellent. Now the retrieval of this weapon is crucial to the military state of Russia. Stark Industries has been a thorn in the Side of the Red Room for too long and you know how adept we are stealing military secrets.

"Now this will have to be handled with the utmost delicacy, the weapon that Howard Stark has created could turn even the notion of nuclear weapons obsolete."

Natasha leaned forward in her chair, not even noticing when the blonde across from her folded his hands eyes keen with interest.

"You have heard of Project Rebirth correct?"

Natasha frowned while the man called Thor looked interested.

"Stefan, that's hardly new technology. In fact we were able to create our own version of the super soldier serum. Why is this suddenly new?"

Stefan leaned forward, arms on the desk, hands folded. "Because Project Rebirth was brought to an abrupt halt with the assassination of the head scientist on the project. The Germans stole the technology but were foiled when one of their lab guinea pigs by the name of Captain American retrieved it.

"Unfortunately since then, Captain America has been put out of commission by the Germans and the technology was lost. Until now."

He turned in his chair and picked up the electronic pointer next to his computer. Pressing a button, a panel in the ceiling was lowered revealing an overhead screen upon which a picture appeared of what looked like a large medicinal capsule.

"This image was recently released to the intelligence agencies in America that the super soldier serum had been discovered and it was the last batch prototyped by Stark before his death. We need it."

"May I ask why?" Natasha asked. "Our scientists have already modified the serum to suit our needs. This is not something we have desperate need of is it?"

Stefan sat back in his chair, and the look he gave her was thinly veiled condescension. "Do I need to explain the arms race to you Agent Romanov? The Americans have discovered a weapon that could give them an edge and we need to one up them. Decades ago, they were the first to develop this technology and it was only through sheer dumb look that that idiotic freedom fighter Captain America crash landed in the North Atlantic effectively taking the technology with him so it could not be replicated. Now that it has resurfaced, we need to get to it before our enemies do and create an entire army of super soldiers. We would not want to be facing entire armies made up of soldiers like Captain America. Now does that answer your question?"

Natasha ground her teeth together at his patronizing tone. Because he was her superior she had to sit here and put up with his abuses.

"Yes sir," she forced out from between clenched teeth. Stefan sat back in his chair looking sickeningly pleased.

"Excellent, your plane leaves tomorrow. You will report to me at all times. Are there any questions?"

"Yes, I have one."

Natasha felt her muscles clench when she heard his voice. She had almost forgotten that the blonde was still there.

"Your question Einridi?" Stefan prompted.

Natasha's frowned deepened. Einridi? What the hell kind of name was that?

"I assume that we will receive instructions upon landing in America about where the serum is being stored, how we are to subsequently get into the place and what type of diplomatic procedures we are to be aware of yes?"

"Of course."

"Good. A further inquiry then. Suppose heaven forbid something were to go wrong and we are found out but we have retrieved the serum. How would you suggest we go about getting it to you?"

"Oh Agent Romanov is well aware of what would happen if something were to go wrong and how to get the serum to me. But nothing will go wrong because the two of you are to get in and out with no one being the wiser. Do I make myself clear?"

"Indeed."

The word was slow and drawn out. Natasha's brow furrowed. He almost sounded amused. But right now she was too irritated with Stefan to further dissect the blondes tone.

"Excellent. I expect you at the air terminal tomorrow, you leave at 1400 hours."

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed."

Natasha couldn't get out of that room fast enough. As soon as she and the other agent were out the door and closed it behind them, she let some of her irritation show.

"Pompous prick," she muttered as she stalked down the hall, barely aware that the blonde was easily keeping up with her.

"He does seem like one of those officials who thinks he can do no wrong doesn't he?" He asked.

Finally she couldn't take it anymore and she screeched to a halt effectively stopping the blonde. He looked at her questioningly.

"It's none of my business who you worked for or even why you're here," she began. "But I need to understand something. Why on earth didn't you at least give me a clue as to who you were last week at the conference? Why all the secrecy?"

His stormy blue eyes looked amused as he looked down at her and even from his impressive height, she didn't get the feeling that he was talking down to her like she would have gotten from Stefan. The air between them all but crackled with electricity and she was suddenly aware that they were standing very close together. The practical side of her brain was screaming at her to move back, but the daredevil, the one that didn't care what anyone else thought was commanding her to stay right where she was. She was Natasha Romanov, a woman who was second to no man, not even this one. And so that was how she stared up at him defiantly.

There was something about him that gave her the urge to prove herself, to go beyond what she knew she could do. How she was thinking all these things from only having spoken to him twice she didn't know and she didn't like the irrational thought patterns that were developing, but she had to remind herself that despite the serum that had turned her into whatever she was, she was still human and she still had hormones and emotions like any other woman. The thought comforted her a bit when the notion that she should rise above such things arose.

All of this passed through her mind as she looked into his eyes that were as vast as the ocean and rippling with power. Finally he spoke.

"Agent Romanov, you should know that secrets are what define this organization. How could I keep my own if I did not play the part? You have your secrets and I have mine. That isn't to say that I won't tell you them if we get to know one another better. But you didn't need to know why I was at that dinner. Just like I assume you didn't tell me why you were there."

His logic was so calm it was maddening. Truth be told Natasha didn't know why she had asked, other than the fact that he was an anomaly, a puzzle to be figured out because she didn't like unanswered questions.

"Now is there anything else you would like to ask me?" His tone wasn't patronizing, but he did sound amused.

"There is just one more thing, I usually work alone, so I apologize if my manner seems brusque," she said, suddenly all business. "It is not an affront on you, it is just my manner. Now on that note, I will meet you in the Red Room's private air terminal tomorrow. Good day Agent Einridi."

She turned to walk away but had gotten no more than a few feet when he called out: "you know, I told you my name for a reason. To everyone else it is Einridi, a name I favor, to you Natasha, I will be always Thor."

The red head paused for a moment, but didn't turn. Not knowing what else to say, she gave a swift nod of her head and stalked off down the corridor and away from the mysterious and infuriating Thor, his words ringing in her ears.

Ω

Thor Odinson of Asgard, watched with amusement as the beautiful red head strode away. She was certainly a puzzle and one he was determined to figure out.

She turned the corner and disappeared from his sight without a backwards glance. He felt his lips quirk upwards and then he turned and strode down the hallway in the opposite direction.

He had to pass through several high level sectors in order to exit the bunker that was located high in the Russian mountains. Maximum security and all that. But the moment he was outside, he took a breath and let out a deep laugh.

This was certainly going to be interesting. Mortals were all too eager to wage war on the other to assert their dominance. There were times when he wanted to knock their heads together.

Being a god, he had thousands of years of experience in dealing with warring factions. In his opinion, it was all idiotic. He may have been the god that had the most battle experience and was the most proficient with weapons, but that didn't mean that he relished it. His job was to keep the peace, not wage war.

Thankfully, he and his brother were of the same mind in that regard. Loki was cunning and ruthless when he wanted something. But in many ways so was Thor.

He had seen some of the humans' depictions in the history books about the gods of Asgard and they were downright laughable. He was portrayed as a mindless battle hungry blood thirsty berserker. And Loki was seen as an evil manipulative snake.

Thor had shown one of the books he had found to his brother and they had both had a good laugh. It was mind blowing how little the mortals actually knew about them.

The books had depicted Loki jealous of Thor's power and Thor envious of Loki's ability to manipulate events. But in reality, nothing could be farther from the truth.

They may have been different but Thor and Loki were actually very close. They both valued family over anything else and would do whatever was necessary to protect it.

Over the centuries, both brothers had discovered ways in which they could teach each other new powers. Thor would never be able to be as deceptive as Loki, but then he wasn't the god of mischief and lies. And Loki would never be able match Thor's prowess in battle but he wasn't the god of lightning and storms. And after a few centuries they had accepted that.

But over those centuries Thor had become decidedly more manipulative and thanks to his brother had sharpened his wits to the point that if they were physical manifestations they would cut. In turn, Loki had learned to use some of the powers of his brother. It was an agreement that worked well for the pair and they were better because of it.

As Thor stood on the blistering cold mountain top and looked down at the surrounding valleys hundreds of feet below him and laughed. There was a long line of tanks and other army equipment in a slow procession towards one of the storage warehouses where they were to be put away.

Thor laughed as he watched them. He could turn the entire line to dust with a wave of his hand, but it wouldn't do for Odin to find out about it. He would do it if it meant his father wouldn't find out. He laughed again when he realized he was more like his brother than ever as that was something that Loki would think.

After glancing at the positioning of the sun, he realized that it was past time to return to Asgard and make his report. Odin had asked him to keep a keen eye on the goings on of this war in Europe and the Middle East that was happening down on Midgard. It wouldn't do for the planet to blow itself up and send toxic chemicals throughout the Galaxy.

Casually he took a few steps back from the ledge of the mountain before clenching his fists and centering the image of Asgard firmly in his mind. After a few seconds there was a blast of heat, a flash of intense light and Thor Odinson disappeared from Midgard.

A few seconds later he had reappeared in Asgard.

Opening his eyes, he stepped down from the golden platform to meet the gatekeeper Heimdall.

As usual the gatekeeper was standing in his usual position beside the platform. He was dressed in golden armor and there was a golden staff in his hand. His eyes were a bronze color despite the dark tone of his skin and aside from Odin, Thor found him to be one of the most fearsome fighters in all of Asgard.

Thor nodded in respect to him as he stepped down from the platform and instantly his garments transformed into typical Asgardian raiment. His hammer returned to his hand and he smiled, glad to feel its grip once more. It only answered to his call, but whenever he was away from it, he felt a little vulnerable.

"I trust your scouting mission was successful my prince?" Heimdall asked. Thor nodded and clapped his old friend and ally on the shoulder.

"Very Heimdall. The people of Midgard are fickle folk, ready to wage war one moment and arrange treaties of armistice the next. They can be quite tiresome. Yet I do not think what they would call a war is pending."

"Those are good tidings," the gatekeeper commented. Thor smiled at him again and bid his friend farewell. He hurriedly strode across the bridge into the city.

The realm of Asgard was a truly wondrous one, the greatest of the nine realms it boasted extraordinary beauty. From his spot on the bridge, Thor could make out the familiar figures of all the planets in the sky. Up ahead lay the shining city which looked very futuristic if you or I would have been there to see it.

Asgard was spread out and almost circular in diameter as if it were thousands of miles wide. There were numerous golden statues throughout the city and along its rims. Its trees were always in season and the sounds of children laughing could clearly be heard causing Thor to smile as he walked through the city toward the palace.

The buildings shone with a brilliance undiminished by time, and Thor took a deep breath of the sweet air. No matter where he traveled throughout the realms, no place would compare to his home. He glanced up at the sky again, noting the deep red color it was turning as the sun went down. It was a beautiful color.

Almost the same color as her hair….

Thor paused midstride. Where in Odin's name had that come from?

The Midgardian woman Natasha was certainly beautiful as beautiful as any of the women of Asgard, but her beauty wasn't really the reason that he had thought of her.

Their conversation earlier had both surprised and amused him. She was certainly intelligent, few besides his brother could match wits with a god. He had to remind himself that she didn't know what he was, but it hardly mattered. The upcoming time with her would be interesting. He wondered how she would behave in a mission such as this.

Her manner was cool and completely placid as if nothing surprised her and nothing caught her off guard. It was certainly an impressive feat considering how emotional mortal were. He had been able to sense her irritation with that pompous fool Stefan earlier.

His lip curled at the memory. He bore no liking for the mortal himself and could have easily disposed of him with a flick of his wrist but that wouldn't do. No matter how much he disliked seeing a woman insulted.

He sighed and resumed his stride. Yes indeed the next few days were going to be interesting. No….the next few days with Natasha Romanov were going to be interesting.

Ω

Natasha pushed open the door to her sleeping quarters. It was a sparse place with only a bed desk and closet to occupy it. But she hardly ever noticed them before because she was hardly ever here in the training bunker.

It was located high in the mountains in order to give the Red Room optimum space and privacy from prying eyes. Very few people traveled up north and the ones that did didn't stay very long. They were only the borderline of Siberia, a bitterly cold country which meant that to live there one had be more than tough. One had more than human.

So why had she been experiencing very human like thoughts and feelings back there? Einridi….or Thor rather was no different than any other man she had worked with in the past. She knew for a fact that none of what she had thinking had shown on her face for which she was eternally grateful. Outwardly she was still the same cold unbending assassin she had always been. But that didn't mean she didn't feel.

And something about his presence was reminding her of something. Something in the past that she would much rather keep buried.

Slowly, the Black Widow walked and sat down on her bed. She needed to think.

Thor Einridi…..what an odd name.

Natasha wasn't sure how she felt about working with him for the next few weeks or however long it took them to retrieve the serum.

Then she shook her head, determined to put the entire incident out of her mind. It had obviously been a touch of adrenaline. She had always felt the annoying need to assert her place in the Red Room, especially around other males. She didn't have to, but she reckoned that it had something to do with her past.

And there she was…..thinking about Stalingrad again.

_Dwelling on the past won't do you any good Romanov. We've been through this. They're dead, they're all dead and there's nothing you can say or do to bring them back. Ivan wouldn't want you thinking like this, so for the love of God let it go!_

Of course that was easier said than done. You never fully got over the death of someone you loved. And this was her parents and older sister she was talking about. Killed in a terrible fire of which she was barely rescued from. Natasha had never been back to Stalingrad since as she had only been eight when they died. To this day they still didn't know what had caused the fire and she had long since stopped hunting for answers.

The rubble from the fire of Romanov Manor had never been rebuilt. Some of the more superstitious folk had begun to say that the place was cursed given the fact that the blaze hadn't been caused by faulty wiring, a pot left on the stove nor anything else that would constitute the starting of a fire.

But Natasha had a very good idea of what it was. She had stopped looking for answers because she had finally realized what the cause was, she had just been too stubborn to acknowledge it.

It was magic.

She had never told anyone what had happened that day

The day that Gellert Grindelwald came to talk to her parents.

And before she knew it, the Black Widow was lost in memories.

_The wizarding world had been in thrall of Albus Dumbledore and Gellert Grindelwald. Their desire to create a global order of witches and wizards was one that many shared. Finally coming out of hiding seemed like a relief._

_But it was a desire that her parents hadn't shared. _

_Grindelwald wasn't pleased that they hadn't shared it because her family were the Romanovs, descended from the Russian royal family and had been in hiding since the revolution in 1914. No one knew that the royals had been witches and wizards because it was a carefully guarded secret. _

_But after the revolution and the royal family had been killed, the rest of the line went into hiding. Practising their magic in secret in the hopes that they would one day rise again to the throne and resume the helm of Russia._

_It was not to be however. _

_Natasha's mother had been a Russian princess before she was forced into hiding, and a very powerful pureblood witch. A witch that Grindelwald had taken notice of. He had long since left Britain with the Elder Wand, a closely guarded secret that only the oldest pureblood families knew about._

_It was then that his reign of terror really began to start. He had come to Russia to recruit witches and wizards to join his cause and many followed him._

_The Romanovs however, were not among them._

_It was a bright spring morning and Natasha and her older sister had been practicing magic in their little fort in the back when suddenly they heard the sound of their father. He sounded somewhat nervous._

_"What do you want?" he asked._

_The speaker must have said something convincing because there was a long pause and then her father said: "Very well then, come inside and I will fetch Alyona."_

_Their voices disappeared and Natasha exchanged a look with her older sister._

_"What do you think they're talking about?" the younger red head asked. Antonina shook her head, green eyes, so like her sister's sparkling with mischief. "I don't know but let's go find out."_

_Eager to make a new discovery and to have an adventure, ten year old Antonina and eight year old Natasha hurried out of the little fort on the ground that Papa had built for them and gripping their wands firmly in their fists, hurried for the house. _

_There was a large window which looked into the library and thankfully the sill was just tall enough that they could creep over to it and crouch beneath it without being seen. _

_"We've told you before Gellert, we don't want any part of your war. You will find nought but indifference from us," said the voice of her mother._

_"Ah, Alyona. Hiding away from power does not befit the Romanov family. You should know that better than anyone."_

_Both little girls sucked in a breath as the heard the voice addressing their mother. It was cold and the sound made them shiver as it resembled the brittle breaking of ice. It was a ruthless voice and one that was dangerous._

_"You know why we had to leave. It wasn't safe, they would have killed us too," came the voice of her father. He didn't sound as afraid as Mama did, but his tone was tight with anxiety._

_"Alexander, you know that I only want the wizarding world to obtain its rightful place on the world stage and I cannot do that without your help. Once the world sees that the royal family gives this endeavor its backing, they will realize the truth," the cold voice said again. _

_Natasha wanted to put her hands over her ears. She didn't want to hear any more. Why was that bad man saying those things to Mama and Papa?_

_"We don't want to be part of a war, we have two children to raise and war is no place for them," her father said firmly. "Thank you for considering us Gellert, but our answer is no."_

_There was a long pause._

_"Very well then," the cold voice said again. "I cannot force you to be part of this revolution. But I hope you know that this puts me in an awkward position. It will be that much harder without your help."_

_"And we apologize for that, but we want none of this. All we want is to be left in peace."_

_"Very well, you have chosen then?"_

_"Yes."_

_That one word was all it took to change Natasha's life forever._

_Before she even had time to blink, there was an explosion that rocked the ground. Antonina and Natasha were thrown to the ground, little hands over their ears screaming from the shock and the noise._

_When the two sisters were able to rise again and the world had stopped spinning, they saw that the house was on fire. But it wasn't just any fire. It was bright green and quickly licking away at the shingles and wooden siding._

_"Mama, Papa!" Antonina screamed and she picked up her skirts and raced to the side door of the house._

_"Nina!" Natasha called after her. Not waiting to see if the eight year old was following, Antonina pulled open the side door and dashed inside._

_For a second, Natasha was frozen. Her house was on fire and her father, mother and sister were all in there._

_Then she recovered herself and dashed for the side door that Nina had just gone through screaming for her parents and her sibling._

_She had no sooner reached the side when there was a terrified blood curdling scream and then another thunderous crash louder than the first._

_Natasha threw the door open and dashed inside. She stopped in terror in the foyer when she saw the scene._

_The house, the beautiful house that she had come to love was in ruins. Yellow and green flames were licking the wood and turning it to ash and rubble faster than she would have thought possible._

_But that wasn't all. One of the enormous beams that supported the house and went all the way from the ground floor, up the staircase and to the ceiling of the third floor had broken and toppled over._

_Onto the body of a small figure with dark red curls._

_"Nina!" _

_Natasha had never screamed so loud nor run as fast as she did in that moment. In an instant, she was by her sister's side and trying feebly to lift the enormous beam off of her sister. Being only eight years old it didn't occur to her that the wood was too heavy to lift._

_"Nina, Nina!" she cried, shaking her sister's unresponsive shoulders. The tears were blurring her vision and making it hard for her to see, plus the smoke was making her cough and retch and it was hard to focus._

_"Nina please wake up!" she choked._

_Just then however, there was a noise behind her. The eight year old whirled around and came face to face with something out of her nightmares._

_The fire had come alive._

_It had taken shape, the shape of a serpent in fact and it was slithering about the foyer. Everything it touched melted and turned to ashes. Its heat was unbearable and little Natasha was beginning to feel her skin blister. So she did what any other little girl would have done. _

_She screamed, she couldn't help it._

_But at the sound of her voice, the fiery serpent turned and began slithering toward her. She screamed again and scrambled backwards until her back hit the support beam and she could go no further._

_It was then that she began to sob. Her sister was dead and she was going to die too._

_But just as she thought it couldn't get any worse, it did._

_All of a sudden the serpent of fire disappeared. And standing in its place was the blonde haired man who had come to see Mama and Papa. The man that they had been so afraid of._

_He crouched down in front of her and looked her square in the face._

_"Take a good look child," he whispered, and it was full of ruthless malice. "This is what happens to people who disobey me."_

_He got up and in the midst of the flames that were still raging turned to walk out the door and away from the murders he had just committed._

_To this day Natasha never knew where she had gotten the courage. She was terrified of what he had done, she could barely even think straight because of the heat and the smoke. But somewhere, somehow she spoke up._

_"Are you going to kill me too?"_

_The blonde man turned at the door and looked back at her, his black eyes growing even darker and what he said next Natasha would remember for the rest of her life. _

_"No. Because I want you to remember this moment. I want you to remember everything. But most of all I want you to remember how helpless you felt in this moment. I want you remember it forever. You are helpless against us. And you always will be."_

_It wasn't long after that that little Natasha blacked out. _

_She had come to in a doctor's office and heard the words: "It was a miracle that she survived that fire with so few burns. Her face wasn't touched at all and there was very little smoke inhalation I would say it's a miracle."_

_It wasn't a miracle, Natasha thought emotionlessly. It was a reminder. A reminder that I'm helpless. And I always will be._

With a gasp the red head came to and raised her face, eyes streaming tears from her hands. That memory was the only thing that could make her cry anymore. Other than that she was emotionless.

After the fire, Ivan Petrovitch Bezukhov the Russian soldier who had found her took her in and raised her as his own.

He took her far away from Stalingrad and the media called the fire the cause of the war with the Germans.

But she knew better. Her parents and sister had been killed by a mad man who thought that Dark Magic and murder was the only way to rule the world.

Still shaking Natasha slipped off the edge of her bed and onto her knees on the floor before she reached under her bed and pulled out an old wooden box. The lock was rusting and a thick layer of dust covered the top, a reminder of the many years of disuse.

She felt the urge to look at it again, something she hadn't done for a very long time.

Wrenching the lock open she slowly almost methodically opened the box and stared at the object inside that had been an instrument of the worst day of her life.

It was a wand.

Her wand.

A wand that had done magic and a wand that could bring about destruction with a single flick. There were dark scorch marks on the side near the handle, scorch marks that she had never wiped off.

It was a reminder, a reminder of why Natasha Romanov had left the wizarding world behind for good and had become the Black Widow.

She felt the sudden urge to try again, just to see if she could still do it.

With tentative fingers Natasha reached inside the box and withdrew the dark red cherry wood wand. The second she touched it, she felt the wood heat as it aligned itself once more with the magic of her core. She had to bite her lip so she wouldn't flinch.

Then she raised the wand and whispered the words to the spell that she had been learning that day. The day that everything had changed.

_"Lumos."_

And the room was bathed in light.

Ω


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Natasha had a difficult time sleeping that night. Flashes of green light and bright flames dominated each lucid thought. She tossed and turned but miraculously when she awoke in the morning, she was still refreshed and full of energy. She must have gotten more sleep then she thought.

Chalk it up to neurogenesis and her speed of light metabolism.

She rose quickly and dressed, threw some of her clothes and equipment in her gym bag and exited the room without a backwards glance. After locking the door and striding down the sterile grey halls, she boarded the express elevator that led down to the airplane hangar on the ground floor.

Natasha wasn't surprised to see the man called Einridi or Thor rather standing next to a small commercial plane, a similar bag slung over his shoulder. He was talking to the pilot and something humorous must have been said because the two were laughing.

The red head calmly walked across the floor of the flight deck toward them, keeping her stride neutral and even. No need for them to know that their laughter irritated her a bit, but she decided it was due to her restless night. She didn't know what they were talking about nor did she care, she just wanted to get this over with.

They were flying to America which was at least an eight hour flight and was likely to be the only relaxation time she would have during this whole excursion.

But if she was traveling with this man, she had an underlying inkling that even the flight there would not be restful.

At that moment as if he knew she were thinking about him, he looked up and locked eyes with her. Natasha blinked.

Again, there was that damn jolt of electricity. _How the hell does he do it?! _She thought annoyed. No other agent had ever been able to get her to blink or question any facet of what she was doing and right now he was making her question her sanity on agreeing to this harebrained adventure.

But then she decided that it didn't matter, they were going to do some reconnaissance, retrieve a weapon, come back to Russia and that would be the end of it.

With this last thought in mind, she closed the distance to the men and gave each of them a curt nod when she stopped in front of them.

"Gentlemen," she said politely. The pilot nodded at her and then turned back to the plane to complete some last minute tests, before telling them they were clear to board and that they could take their seats.

Thor glanced down at the red head next to him. Her expression was tense and he was sure if she clenched her jaw any tighter it would break.

"Are you alright?" he asked in a low voice, "you seem somewhat anxious." Natasha spared him a quick glance. "I loathe going to America," she muttered. He felt his lips quirk upwards in amusement.

"Because you feel as if such a task is beneath you?" he asked as they boarded the sleek gulfstream and stored their bags in the overhead bin before taking their seats.

Natasha whirled to face him, green eyes flashing. "Because I do not see the point in traveling halfway across the world into enemy territory to retrieve a weapon that has no significant value to the relevance of this war."

"Ah, but you forget this is not a war Natalia. This is a state of tension built upon the prospect of arms and the main goal of an arms race is to have the best and most deadly weapons. Which is exactly what we are trying to do. You might say we are playing our roles perfectly."

Natasha's gaze narrowed. "Are you mocking me?" she asked and the amused look in his stormy blue eyes heightened considerably.

"I would not presume so much," he said after allowing her to take the window seat while he took the aisle. "You obviously know all of this and I do not feel that whatever has caused your disposition is wholly due to this trip."

He didn't look as if he expected her to answer as he folded his hands across his broad chest and leaned back in his seat.

Natasha didn't bother to look at him because again, he was right. She had had all of three infuriating and enlightening conversations with this man and he had been right about what she was feeling and thinking every damn time.

She didn't like being read so easily, but at the same time, she could also understand why he had chosen to accompany her. It was almost like he could read her mind through the twitching and movement of her facial muscles. And to be able to get a read on Natasha Romanov was an impressive thing indeed.

Thor had closed his eyes but given his….unique situation, he was still completely aware of his surroundings. He was acutely aware of the movement of the fans as they operated the air conditioning system and the squeak of the wheels of the plain as they drove onto the runway.

What an uncomfortable way to travel! Humans were so limited. He could've transported himself and Natalia to America in a matter of seconds. Of course it would have drawn a lot of attention and he didn't relish the thought of explaining to the mortals why there was a circular rune that was ten feet wide in their soil.

He was more looking forward to seeing Natalia's reaction when she found out what their cover story for being in America would be.

Before she had arrived on the tarmac that morning, Stefan had appeared and presented him with some files. Thor had taken a moment to quickly look them over after what Natalia called "The Pompous Prick," had left and his amusement had only grown.

He and Natalia Romanov were to present themselves as a married couple of weapons specialists from Poland at the diplomatic conference for arms and defense. Representatives from Stark Industries would be there and they were to use the time to ascertain whether or not Howard Stark had kept the matter of Project Rebirth at his weapons facility and how it would take to retrieve it.

They would only be in America for a week for this weapons conference, but the god was already looking forward to seeing the red head's reaction when she found out that there would be another conference to attend.

A smirk twisted his handsome features as he turned and watched her. Already she had fallen asleep. She looked a little tired. Sleep must have been elusive for her the previous night because within minutes of them taking to the air she had fallen fast asleep. He chuckled.

"Having fun?" a familiar voice asked.

Thor grinned and glanced up at his brother who was casually leaning against the overhead bin on the opposite side of the aisle. The upper compartments weren't that tall but that wouldn't have mattered given how tall Loki was. His pale green eyes were glittering with amusement, a stark contrast to Thor's sapphire blue ones. His skin was pale also in contrast to his brother whose pallor was tanned and screamed of a life spent under the sun.

They couldn't be more different in appearance, but their minds were actually quite similar, they were both fierce warriors who valued nothing more than family and were very protective of their own.

Thor leaned back in his chair and grinned at the dark haired man. "Very much so," he said. Loki took a look around the cabin of the plane and grimaced. "A pity you have to travel in this floating tin can," he said, "suppose something goes wrong?" Thor shrugged.

"Then the transportation of myself and Natalia falls to me." Loki rolled his eyes, "and how would you explain to her that you can suddenly navigate the air currents and ensure that both her and yourself are in America in a matter of seconds?"

"I'll convince her she lost consciousness from the plane losing altitude and was dreaming," Thor said smoothly and smiled when his brother started to laugh.

"You know, it doesn't work quite like that. Besides, this one looks like she wouldn't be as easily fooled as all the other naïve humans that occupy this strange planet," Loki said, looking Natalia over. Thor reached over and passed a hand over her eyes causing a golden light to emit from his palm. He didn't really like manipulating humans, but the last thing he wanted was for Natalia to wake up and see his brother on the plane.

Loki could read minds but it was a talent he also didn't use very often. Said brother took the seat across from the blonde and turned it toward him.

"I still don't understand why you would voluntarily want to do something like this," Loki mused as he looked around the interior of the plane. "Posing as a human is so tedious, they can't do anything without help."

Thor laughed. While his brother wasn't very fond of humans he wasn't on Midgard very often so he didn't have to associate with them very much. Thor could understand the frustration though. If a human wanted to get anywhere they had to rely on an object, they couldn't just think of the place and automatically be there. He couldn't imagine what that was like.

"This one seems to be holding her own though," he noted as he cast a sideways glance at the red head.

"Ah the beautiful Natalia," Loki said sounding amused as his eyes took Romanov in. A few seconds later he looked at his brother with an appreciative expression. "She is quite beautiful for a Midgardian. She does cut a striking figure."

Thor laughed again and waved his hand dismissively. "Leave us not with your outrageous comparisons, we both know that in your eyes Midgardian women will never compare to the females of Asgard."

Loki looked offended. "I never said that. If I remember the discourse correctly, I said that I have yet to see a Midgardian woman that can compare to ours. That doesn't mean that there isn't. I just have yet to find one."

"Must you be so politically correct all the time?" Thor said chuckling. "After all your standards are far too high for your own good."

"No, they just have yet to meet a woman that they find pleasing," Loki replied smoothly causing his brother to grin. They both knew that at least another thousand years would pass before the concept of even finding a woman would enter Loki's head on a more serious note.

"So what errand do these pitiful humans have you doing now?" Loki said as he leaned back in his chair. Thor chuckled. "I am not "running errands" for them as you so eloquently put it. If I am running any at all, you could just as well say that Father is the one orchestrating these errands. He simply doesn't want to the foolish humans to combust the planet and themselves in this so called nuclear war and send toxic fumes throughout the galaxy harming the other nine realms. I have to step in before that happens and if it means obliterating a select few, then I will have to do so."

"Bah, nuclear war! These humans talk as if they have the deadliest weapons ever made. I am willing to wager my left hand that they have nothing close to the weapons we possess on Asgard. These humans think their impenetrable. They have yet to see real power."

"Indeed, yet it is my fervent hope that we have no need to make it known to them," Thor replied calmly. During the times when Loki got a bit hotheaded it was best to just wait it out until he could get a word in edgewise again.

"Any word from Father?" he asked finally. Loki shook his dark head. "No, the old man is keeping his counsel in such matters."

"As he should," Thor nodded. The light in the cabin darkened for a brief second before lighting again. Loki sighed.

"It would appear my time has come to an end. Be careful brother and don't do anything that I wouldn't."

Thor uttered a deep laugh. "Then it would seem that all courses of action are open to me." Loki grinned at him before disappearing.

Thor settled back in his seat, still chuckling from his brother's visit. Loki never ceased to amuse him, yet his brother was a valiant warrior and a steadfast friend.

He was certainly going to need that if he was to spend the next few weeks down on Midgard keeping an eye on the humans.

Natalia stirred in her sleep and the movement caused him to turn and look at her. Her brow was furrowed slightly as if something was troubling her, her lips were moving as they formed silent words and more than once he wanted to know what she was thinking.

Ω

When she woke again, Natasha was glad to learn from her partner that the pilot had just announced that they were beginning their descent into the airport in Miami Florida.

"Did you not sleep at all?" she asked and the tall blonde shook his head. "I never require too much rest, I gained enough last night."

She nodded and said no more of it, though he looked somewhat amused. She decided against frowning and unbuckled her seat belt so she could better stretch her legs. Thor had opened a white folder and was thumbing through it carefully.

"Is that our itinerary?" she asked absently as she adjusted her shoes on her feet.

"In part yes, but these also contain our direction and the…..aliases we are to go by while we are in America."

"May I?" Natasha asked, reaching for the folder. Thor had to bite the inside of his cheeks as he waited for her reaction. It wasn't long in coming.

"We are to pose as a married couple," she said. It wasn't a question and if he hadn't been a god, he would have winced at her tone because it had turned as sharp as steel.

"Do you find some fault with the orders?" he asked innocently. He didn't mean to goad her so much, but it was just so interesting how she reacted to everything.

"I suppose I should not care in the least, this is a job and I am serving my country, yet I cannot help but feel as if I am being serviced out. No one would believe that we are simply two professional partners who work together as it is highly irregular to find a woman in this field of study. We are to pose as husband and wife in order to make this more believable."

"This angers you," Thor said and she nodded. "I have worked for the Red Room ever since I was young and yet because I am a woman there are still some things that I cannot be allowed to do and others that are more suited to my…gender."

"I see," Thor said, and he did. He could understand how frustrating that would be. Even the females of Asgard had as much freedom as they desired. To be denied that simply because of their sex was incredibly unjust.

He was about to respond further when the voice of the pilot crackled over the loud speaker, telling them they had arrived safely in a private wing of the Miami airport and that they could now disembark.

Both agents stood and retrieved their bags from the overhead bins. Meanwhile what Natalia had said was ringing in Thor's head. If she was one of the woman on Asgard as he had imagined quite a few times since he had met her, he would have ensured that complete freedom would have been hers. The woman warriors of Asgard were every bit as fierce as the men and seeing that Natalia was one of the best human warriors down on Midgard, she would have been instrumental in his home.

Meanwhile, Natasha was seething. How dare they do this to her? She had had to use a lot of awkward covers before, but never had she had to pose as a married woman. If she stopped to question herself as to why she was so mad about it, she wouldn't have like the answers she came up with.

The truth was, she was more concerned about her interpersonal relationship with Thor…Einridi…..whatever….then she was about ensuring the weapons of Project Rebirth for the Red Room.

Their orders had been that because the Americans had since abandoned the project since the death of Howard Stark, they were sitting on a time bomb. And the Russians wanted to ensure that their U.S counterparts didn't have any aces up their sleeves. Plus the extra serum they could steal wouldn't but a dent in their cause.

As soon as they were to come through customs, they would meet a man by the name of Salvos who would be taking them in a car to the Hampton Inn in downtown Miami. Which coincidentally was where the weapons conference would take place in the downstairs ballroom.

Natasha growled quietly as she exited the plane in front of her partner, she had just come from a blasted conference a week ago where she had to wear a dress, heels and flirt and now she had to do it all over again, but this society was so damned against a woman having anything to do with the sciences that it was unthinkable for her to have anything to do with the field unless a man was interested first.

As soon as they stepped off the movable staircase, a wave heat hit the red head, causing immediate sweat to rise on her forehead.

"Good Lord," Thor muttered. "How do these people live in this heat year round?" Natasha smirked as she turned back to him. "It always was beyond me how someone would want to willingly let themselves be uncomfortable."

"Indeed," he smiled as he walked beside her. "I quite enjoy experiencing four seasons, rather than one continuous heat wave or cold front year round."

Natasha said no more as they walked into the airport hangar, retrieved their bags from the turn still and headed for international business customs. She liked airports, but she hated the people in them. It was loud, noisy, hot and not at all conducive to level headed thinking.

The two of them passed a mother and her three children all of whom were screaming and Natasha winced. She wasn't sure she would be able to put up with that on a daily basis without going insane.

Thankfully they were able to find their driver in record time and quickly tucked themselves into a cab which headed for the Hampton Hotel.

"So when does the torture that is the International Weapons Conference start?" Natasha asked under her breath which elicited a deep chuckle from Thor.

"You really don't like diplomatic conferences do you?" he asked. She glanced up at him. Even when they were sitting down he made her feel short. It should be illegal to be that tall. She locked gazes with him for a second and nearly winced when she felt that jolt of electricity again.

Damn him!

"If I had some guarantee that said diplomatic conference was actually going to accomplish anything then I would be more than happy to attend one as a means of serving my country, but since it is nothing more than a bunch of old wealthy pompous men, talking about things they knew nothing about, I reserve my right to hold my loathing for them." Thor laughed again, this time louder.

"It is tomorrow night and Stefan has informed me that representatives from Stark Industries will be there to speak about what strides they have made in American weaponry since the untimely demise of Howard Stark." He paused, looking up from the white file folder. "You wouldn't happen to know anything about that would you?" he asked.

Natasha glanced out of the window as they passed Miami Beach. The sun was shining and a gentle breeze was blowing the palm trees. She rolled her window down and tilted her face out of the glass so the sunlight hit it.

She did have to admit, the weather was nice. America was nowhere near as beautiful as her native Russia though.

"No, it was outside of my jurisdiction," she answered honestly. She had had a feeling that someone higher up on the Red Room food chain had been given the task of assassinating Howard Stark, but she had never been sure.

"How long are we supposed to be here?" she asked her partner absently. Thor examined the folder again.

"We have as long as a week to get what we need and get back to Russia before anyone is the wiser. If we can do it in less time, then even better."

"Let's see if we can do it in three," Natasha mused, "the less time we're in enemy territory the better."

Ω

Thor was quite surprised how smoothly secret service operations were. Of course, they operated under the pretense of government jurisdiction, but really marched the tune of their own drum. They were efficient and he could appreciate that about them. If all human agencies down on Midgard operated as efficiently as the Red Room did, then he wouldn't have the need to check up on them every so often.

It wasn't that he didn't like Midgard, it was an interesting place, but it was incredibly competitive. Everyone was trying to outdo their cultural and intellectual counterparts by seeing who had the bigger weapons and who could posture the most. He found it wearisome.

They had arrived at the place that Natalia called the Hampton and checked in without any hassles.

He had to admit, for a human domain it was quite elaborate. Ivory pillars, marble floors, plush carpeting and exotic plants were just of the attractions that it boasted. Natalia didn't notice any of this though.

She marched right to the check in desk and began conversing smoothly with the receptionist. Thor decided to hang back and see how she worked. This seemed to one of her areas of expertise as well.

In a matter of about sixty seconds of flashing her cover card to the receptionist, a bell boy appeared with a trolley, put their bags on it and handed them a room key.

Natalia turned and gestured for him to follow her and the two hurried toward the elevator. Once inside, the red head passed him a document.

"We're on the top floor, one of the largest rooms," she said, her voice lacking tonal quality. It didn't escape the blonde's notice that the word room was singular. But he supposed that it made sense for them to have one as they were trying to maintain a cover.

After a near three minute trip in the elevator, there was a final ding and the doors slid open to reveal a long hallway with plush red carpets and large bay windows. There were only three rooms on this floor and it turned out that the one that Natasha and Thor were staying in was the last one on the right.

Natasha swiped the room key and opened the door to reveal a large sitting area which plush black leather sofas as well as a stone fire place. Just down the hall when she opened the door was an enormous marble bathroom. Thor turned and opened the adjacent door which revealed an enormous master bedroom. There was a four poster bed and all the sheets and hangings on it were red.

However someone on the hotel staff must have gotten the wrong idea because scattered across the tops of the bed sheets was a handful of rose petals.

As soon as Natasha saw the flower remnants, she started growling under her breath in Russian. She glanced at her partner and judging by his amused expression, he had seen the petals as well.

"I did not authorize this," she ground out in English. Thor chuckled deep in his throat. "Nor did I, yet someone seems to think that this type of welcome is appropriate for us."

_When I get through with Stefan when we get back to Russia…._Natasha's thoughts trailed off murderously.

She schooled her features into an impassive expression so her partner wouldn't see how much she was bothered by the assumption that they were engaged romantically despite the pretenses they were supposed to be under.

The red head dropped her bag on the floor next to the bed before turning to the blonde.

"Shall we get to work?"

Ω

After ensuring that the room was bug free, Natasha and Thor went about setting up their monitoring equipment.

The red head would later admit how surprised she was about how easy it was to work with him. He had a calm presence and extremely easy going manner that seemed to make all of the work run smoother.

Once all of the equipment had been set up, Natasha had discovered that a branch of Stark Industries was a few blocks away from the hotel. This all seemed a little to convenient so the two agents decided to take a walk to case the place.

All was quiet as they made their way down the hall to the elevator, but as soon as they were out of the hotel and walking along the boardwalk of the beach the conversation had picked up again.

"You seem to be attracting quite a bit of attention, you do realize that?" Thor asked. Natasha frowned and glanced up at him. She obviously wasn't wearing her uniform, which would be far too conspicuous so she had changed to a simply dark blue sundress and tied her long red hair up to keep it off her shoulders because of the heat. It certainly wasn't striking clothing.

"Me? Are you sure it's not you that is the cause of the attention?" she asked.

Even in civilian clothing, the blonde cut a striking figure. He was dressed similar to her in jeans and a T-shirt, but he had pulled back the top section of his long blonde hair into a braid to keep it out of his face. He looked just as imposing in civilian clothing as he did in his Red Room attire.

"Perhaps we shouldn't try and draw as much attention to ourselves," he said quietly causing Natasha to frown. "What do you mean?"

He didn't answer. Instead he put his hand down and suddenly threaded his fingers through hers which caused her to stiffen and nearly come to a halt. She almost asked what he was doing before she remembered their cover and kept her mouth shut. Although she was surprised by his boldness, she didn't question it.

If she were trying to picture it from a civilian perspective, they would be much more forgettable if they looked like a couple then if they were just two striking individuals walking along the boardwalk.

"You seem to be the type to act the exact opposite of the way people think you will," she muttered as they continued their walk.

Her blonde counterpart cast her a puzzled glance. "I'm afraid I don't know what you mean," he said.

"You seem to like surprises," she explained. "You do the exact opposite of what others expect you will do. It's not a bad thing, merely unpredictable."

"You mean this?" he asked, lifting their joined hands. "My dear Natalia, the day I act the way others think I will is the day I cease to be who I am."

He said the words simply, but she could tell that a lot of meaning and thought had been put into them.

"And who exactly is that?" she asked as they walked along. The boardwalk was coming to an end and they were walking on the side walk again. Down a street lined with palm trees, Natasha could see a tall building rising above the other skyscrapers on the Miami Street. At the top there was a metal statue with two large letters: SI. Stark Industries.

She turned her head to point it out to her partner but found he was already watching her. His blue eyes were doing that peculiar crackling thing again and there was a slight bit of tension in the air.

"The answer to your question is both simple and complex," he said as they walked down the street to the enormous building.

"Well perhaps you could give me an answer that encompasses both," she said not sure why she was playing along with his game but finding she was somewhat enjoying it none the less.

"I am whoever I choose to be and whoever I want to be, because choosing and wanting to be something are two completely different things."

Natasha blinked. "That was quite the philosophical answer," she said and was about to further speak when she realized that they had arrived.

Still holding on to her partners had for some reason that she would later describe as completely asinine, she pulled him into the alley next to the building and both leaned their backs against the stone wall.

"We can't simply go inside," the blonde whispered. "They would be able to match a face to a name and drawing attention to ourselves is the last thing we need. Where do you think they would keep the serum?"

Natasha jerked her head to the back of the building and slowly they crept along the wall towards the rear of the property. Natasha had chosen to wear a loose fitting dress for a reason. There was a small hand gun on her upper right thigh and in her shoe there was a small silver blade that could be accessed at a moment's notice. She never went anywhere without her toys but she would still be on even ground without them.

When they reached the back of the building, Natasha looked around carefully and saw a small staircase embedded in the concrete which led down to what looked like a small access door. In certain directions you wouldn't be able to see it.

Natasha gestured to it and Thor came up beside her. "I know they have a lab underneath the main building itself. This must be the emergency exit from it."

He nodded. "I'm assuming the place is code locked?" Natasha bit her lips. "Perhaps, but I'm more inclined to believe that someone's finger print is used to access this door. If they used codes, it's far more likely that someone would be able to figure it out and sneak undetected into the lab."

He acknowledged her point.

"I'm also inclined to think that the scientist we need to be looking for is Dr. Kyle Kirkwood. He's the leading weapons specialist at this lab and no weapons goes in or out of this place without him knowing about it."

"A reasonable assumption," Thor surmised. "Might I make a suggestion?"

"Please."

"I recommend we do not go looking for the serum until the night before we are ready to leave. Is there a possibility that this Dr. Kirkwood will be a guest at the conference tomorrow night?"

"Absolutely."

"Very good, so instead of waiting for him here so we can knock him out and risk someone seeing us which is very likely, we commune with him at the dinner and see if we can get his fingerprints, whether it be on a wine glass or a napkin, place it in a mold and see if it will work."

"An excellent idea."

"Good, then I suggest we retire to the hotel lest someone comes back here and sees and our cover is blown."

Ω

They laid low for the rest of the day and the night as well as the next day, simply monitoring the activity of Stark Industries and watching for who went in and out of the building. Natasha had placed a few bugs on the side of building hidden behind vegetation and trash cans so that they were out of sight.

Kyle Kirkwood had come in and out of the lab numerous times. He was a tall thin man with wire rimmed glasses and a slight build. He was the stereotypical version of a movie scientist which Natasha found somewhat amusing.

Finally, as the day wore on, it was time to begin getting ready for the weapons conference and Natasha could feel her even tempered mood dropping.

She opened her bag and dug through the contents, wincing when she pulled out a halter top red dress with a very low back.

After taking the proper time to clean herself up for this sort of thing, she slipped on the dress and adjusted the straps at the shoulders before taking stock of her reflection in the mirror.

"Good God, am I a Red Room Agent or a high priced hooker?" she muttered as she turned around.

"I don't know, I think you look very nice."

Natasha whirled about, annoyed that he had once more managed to sneak up on her. But just as she was about to make a sarcastic quip, she caught sight of her partner and one red eyebrow shot up to her hair line.

He was wearing dark dress slacks and a white dress shirt that fit snug over his upper body, outlining every muscle. His hair was neatly tied back and arrayed about his shoulders. Not for the first time, did she wonder how on earth he had gotten it so long and healthy.

The collar of his white shirt was flipped up however and wrapped around the back of his neck was a dark bow tie that he was absently fiddling with.

Natasha glanced at him for a moment before she chuckled. "Are you having trouble tying that?" she asked gesturing to his neck. Thor rubbed his collar and grimaced.

"It's beyond me why humans think that strangling themselves with decorative silk is fashionable."

If Natasha had been paying more attention, she would have seen the muscle jerk in his cheek as soon as he said the word, but she wasn't so she didn't, otherwise she would have found it extremely odd.

"Here let me help you," she said walking toward him. He stepped forward and she reached her arms around his neck so she could untie his collar. She tried not to come into contact with his skin as it was a little distracting, she would grudgingly admit.

"When did you learn to do this?" he asked as she threaded the ties together. Natasha frowned as she looked carefully at the decorative piece of silk. "Let's just say I had to use a lot of covers as a Red Room agent, some of which included bow ties."

"What that include wearing them or strangling someone with him?"

Natasha glanced up at him frowning, but what she was about to say died on her lips when she saw the odd look in his eyes. If she didn't know any better, she would say his gaze had…..softened.

She blinked and looked away, suddenly uncomfortable, relieved that she had managed to finish tying the tie.

She turned and walked over to the table by the bed and picked up the simple black clutch that contained both her gun and switchblade, tucking it close to her side. Her blonde counterpart walked over to the floor length windows and tucked the thick red silk curtains closed.

The view was nice, but it really wasn't conducive for night time viewing. The sounds of the city below them could clearly be heard through the glass.

Natasha didn't even want to think about how many clubs would be in full swing tonight.

She was also very glad that the rose petals that some idiotic hotel staff member had left on the bed had been swept away the second she and her partner got back from casing Stark Industries the other day.

He had told her that he would sleep on the spacious sofa in the lounge area of the suite and she didn't object. They were able to maintain a professional relationship while still being under the romantic cover guise without any of it being any facet of awkward.

"I take it your ready then?" Thor asked and she took a deep breath and nodded.

"Let's get this over with."

Ω

If Thor hadn't seen Natalia's behaviour in a social setting before, he would have denied all claims that she loathed such occasions. She was the perfect picture of grace and social charms. But then again, she wasn't a Red Room agent for nothing.

As soon as they stepped off the elevator and into the lobby of the hotel to walk over to the large ballroom doors on the right side, they could both see that it was a red carpet event. Right away, the blonde noticed the telltale curl of the red head's lower lip which meant she was extremely irritated.

"Try not to knife any diplomats tonight," Thor whispered as he leaned over to her, his warm breath tickling her bare skin.

"Very funny," she muttered, that very thought having crossed her mind if the speeches went on for too long. "The second we locate Kirkwood and get his finger prints, we are out of here."

The two side stepped some of the guests who were lingering in the entry way and stepped into the large ballroom of the Hampton Hotel. It was just as elaborate as the grand ballroom in Moscow, but lacking some of the classier artwork.

Pillars lined the edges of the room, a large crystal chandelier was hanging from the ceiling and there was a large marble fountain spouting water out of a fish's mouth in the middle of the room itself.

"Don't these people know anything about interior decorating?" she heard her partner mutter under his breath and she smirked. They both found the strangest things to bring up when they were in social settings.

It wasn't long before they were standing by one of the pillars off to the side of the ballroom, wine glasses in their hands, merely watching the patrons dance by. Violin music was playing and suddenly Natasha was struck by the oddest sense of déjà vu.

Thor must have been having the same brain wave because he smirked down at her and said: "I believe this is how we met?"

Natasha rolled her eyes just enough so that he would see but no one else would.

"We? I believe you were the one who came over to me."

Suddenly her gaze narrowed in on something….or rather someone, and she lowered the glass from the sip she was about to take. She reached out and tapped Thor's arm and with the slightest of tilts, inclined her head toward a tall man in a dark suit with wire rimmed glasses that had just entered the room which a short blonde on his arm.

Natasha was far too composed to say a ridiculous phrase like: "Target sighted," aloud, but she did think it.

Thor nodded, indicating that he had seen him. "How do you want to go about this?" he asked.

Natasha did answer, she was too busy watching as Kirkwood crossed the room.

In fact as she observed the tall scientist walking through the ballroom and greeting people, she saw that his gaze lingered much longer on each woman he passed then on anyone or anything else.

A wicked smirk crossed her features, but her mind had turned grim because she believed the task before her was going to be singularly unpleasant.

"Hold this," she said and handed Thor her wine glass. He glanced at her, confused. "What are you doing?"

Natasha sighed. "Sometimes in the pursuit of a higher cause, one has to employ the weapons they have at their disposal and said weapons are not the conventional type."

Thor looked between her and Kirkwood for a brief second before realization dawned his blue eyes and his handsome expression almost changed to one of irritation.

"You're going to go flirt with him?" he drawled sarcastically. Natasha snorted. "Well I'm certainly not going to send you to do it," she said. "And how else am I going to collect his finger prints? With any luck, I'll be able to take that wine glass of his and we can get out of here without a single drop of blood being shed."

Without waiting for a response, she picked up her skirts and walked with purposeful strides across the room toward the scientist.

Ω

Thor took a sip from his wine glass as he watched the red head close the distance toward Kirkwood. He would have liked to have been able to hear what they were saying but decided it was best that he stay right here.

The music was beginning to wind down and he had a feeling that the long dry speeches were going to start up again soon.

Carefully his eyes scanned the room a few times before circling back to Natalia. All seemed to be going well. The weapons specialist was preening like a peacock and she just seemed to laying it on. Thor had bite the inside of his cheek carefully to keep from laughing.

And then it happened.

Natalia had been holding her clutch in front of her and for some reason, whether she had gestured to it or not, he reached out and placed his hand flat on the face of the purse.

His date was standing a few feet away talking to someone else, but every few seconds, she would glance in their direction looking a little irritated.

Her mission complete, she seemed to be wrapping up her conversation. Kirkwood looked a little bit disappointed but let her go before turning back to his date.

Natalia came back toward him with quick but decisive movements, and with each step that she took closer to him, she could see the disgust becoming more visible on her face. When she came to a stop next to him again, her expression was downright thunderous.

"If I ever have to do something that demeaning again…" she trailed off but her meaning was clear.

"Unpleasant conversation then I take it," he asked, trying to hide his smirk behind the wine glass.

"That man has more arrogance in one finger then the rest of the people in this room put together," she sneered. Thor chucked. "Well at least its over and we can leave now."

"Not quite yet."

"I beg your pardon?"

"It would be too suspicious if we left right away after talking to him, especially, if I'm the last person he talked too. Statistically speaking the last thing you hear or see in a given circumstance is the thing that you remember the most." We should probably wait until one of the speeches is over and then leave."

"If you say so."

They both turned toward the platform that had been set up to see a younger man striding toward the stage. He had dark hair and a confident expression on his face. But when he got to the front of the room and introduced himself as one of the weapons specialists from Germany, the blonde and red head exchanged glances.

"Something's not right here," Thor muttered. "He's been glancing at Kirkwood all night. Its almost as if he expected him to be here and that he expected something to happen."

Natasha nodded. She had seen the casual air with which the specialist had been eyeing Kirkwood. It was almost as if he was waiting for something….

That something came almost before she was expecting it, but she had unconsciously reached inside her bag for her gun.

The German specialist was just wrapping up his speech. "And thank you Ladies and Gentlemen for having us here tonight to discuss the unique problems that our world is facing and how we can….solve them."

There was almost an imperceptible paused between two of his words and no else seemed to notice it, but Natasha did. And she understood what it meant.

So apparently, did Thor.

He grabbed her arm and jerked her to the floor. No sooner had he done that then shots rang out in the ballroom, followed immediately by the screams of terrified patrons.

Natasha yanked her gun from her bag and looked around the room trying to get her bearings. Most of the guests had had the sense to dive under the tables but others who had less wits had tried to make a break for the doors, only to be shot and killed.

Kirkwood, the little rat, was hiding under the tables with his date who was cowering and whimpering like a stuck pig. If the situation hadn't been so tense she would've scoffed.

Instead, the red head focused on yanking the mini electric shock magnets from the band around her waist. She quickly reloaded her gun and caught her partner's eye.

"You get the civilians out, I'll deal with them," she murmured. He frowned but recognized the situation really didn't allow for argument.

Using one of the large potted plants for cover, she stowed her clutch between the leaves and out of sight. The last thing she needed was for Kirkwood's handprint to be compromised.

All of the exits had been blocked except for a small window which Thor was inching along the wall towards. He was moving so silently that she was amazed she couldn't hear him, but that only occupied her mind for a second.

Her eyes zeroed in on the dark haired German who by now had descended the platform and was barking out orders in German. There were two men stationed by every door machine guns in hand. They were sealing the door with some kind of solvent. There was no getting the civilians out that way and if it came down to a gun fight it would be impossible that there wouldn't be any casualties.

Natasha stared at the dark haired German. He looked oddly familiar…..

And then she remembered. At a heist in Poland a few years ago. She and a few other Red Room Agents had been sent in to retrieve one of their major scientists who had disappeared. The man's name was Anton Konrad and he had been what many would call a ransomer. He was a man without a country and didn't fight for any side. He stole from any country to line his own pockets with coins.

He was a worm and Natasha detested worms. He had nearly taken out one of their best scientists for a one hundred thousand dollar ransom. Natasha had managed to critically wound him and but he had managed to escape with one of his men. Before doing so however, he had sworn revenge on her specifically, called her a thorn in his side and one day he would remove her.

Talk about your morale builder.

Natasha hadn't know much fear in her life, but Anton Konrad was one of the few people she would be wary around.

"Alright, so this is how things are going to work," Konrad called out right after firing a shot in the air. Natasha doubted that anyone outside of the ballroom had heard. It was a soundproof room she had been told by the one of the bell boys and in a separate part of the building so they weren't below any rooms. But as she looked up, she saw two glass skylights directly above the center of the room.

They might come in handy…..

"Alright, now all we want is Dr. Kyle Kirkwood. We get him and everyone else goes free," Anton was saying. Natasha scoffed quietly, knowing that this was a lie.

She flicked her eyes toward Thor who by now had gotten the attention of some of the hostages and was beckoning them towards one of the lower windows which weren't being guarded. A few of the guests had slipped out from under the tables and were making their way discreetly towards him.

"Now all we want is Dr. Kirkwood," Anton began to walk about the room flipping up the table cloths on tables and dragging some of the remaining civilians out from under them. Some were struggling, other were crying. All that was put a stop to however when one of the guards began clubbing them over the head.

Natasha had to do something. His gaze was starting to wander to where Thor was currently helping out the victims. They needed a distraction.

Pulling out the small stiletto blade she had encased still in her shoe, Natasha aimed carefully at the man closest to Thor who was just turning in her direction. She narrowed her gaze and threw.

Like a silent arrow, the blade cut through the air without making a sound. The only auditory noises there were was when there was a muffled grunt and the man fell, machine gun clattering to the floor.

"What was that?" Konrad as turning around as he attempted to find the source of the noise. "Who's there?"

_I've got to keep him occupied until Thor gets the civilians out,_ Natasha thought as she tried to come up with a plan. She took a breath. It was stupid, but it just might work.

And then she stepped out of hiding and into the light.

Ω

**Ahem, well...that was embarrassing. I cannot believe that it has been almost two months since I updated this story. That's a long time. Plus I promise that the next update wont be as long. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and as always...happy reading everyone! **


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

There were certain types of people in the international community of espionage that were the lowest of the low. The structure of espionage was diplomacy and Thor knew this. He had had to engage many times in such diplomatic pursuits with his father in the other nine realms. Some were successful and some weren't. More often than not, Odin had asked him and Loki to step in and settle the score, to remind the natives why Asgard was the most powerful of the nine realms.

Midgard however didn't function the way the others did. They consisted of only one species, none of which seemed to possess more power than the other and which were constantly locked in a struggle. They didn't have anything that would make them particularly imposing to Asgard, but the whole espionage system consisted of posturing. They used excessive diplomacy and seemed very reluctant to engage in outright warfare privately, while their public opinions dictated otherwise.

Thor would be the first to admit that he didn't like to engage in warfare when there were other ways to solve problems. But he also understood that there were times when war was necessary to override the system.

Natalia seemed to understand that as well because when he saw her step from behind the potted plant into the light, he knew things were about to get ugly.

Some of the civilians were poking their heads out from under the tables and looking around to see if whether or not the coast was clear, the ones that were caught were dragged out on their hands and knees, shotgun barrels pointed at their heads and crying as they were screamed at in German.

Only about three of them managed to make their way to the blonde. He pushed the window open and gestured for them to hurry out quickly.

"Thank you sir, oh thank you so much," one of the older women whispered painfully. The blonde gave her a swift nod. "Get as far from this place as you can and contact the local authorities."

"You should know that this room is soundproof," one of the diplomats added as he slid halfway out the window. "We're connected to the hotel, but there are no rooms above us and underneath the wood, the doors are solid steel, I doubt that the sound of gunfire will emit too far and at this time of night, there won't be many people around."

Thor nodded his thanks for the information and left the window open a crack. He glanced back toward the ballroom where in the centre of the pillars, most of the civilians were still lying face down on the ground, hands behind their heads. Many were shaking and crying and he felt his blood boil. If things got ugly, like they most likely would, they would be the collateral damage and being responsible for the deaths of at least a dozen civilians wouldn't really sit well with his conscience.

"I see it really is true what they saw about Germans," said a voice with a sarcastic rasp and Thor saw Natasha step into the light to begin addressing Konrad. She shrugged as if completely calm.

"They really don't know how to use words. It's always the guns that speak for them. I would have thought evolution would be in your favor, but I guess I was wrong."

Konrad whirled about and came face to face with the beautiful red head. His expression was one of disbelief and then glee. He threw back his head and laughed.

"Well, well, well, I didn't think I would be seeing the Black Widow again for a very long time. I thought I would have frightened you into hiding after our last meeting."

Natasha snorted, "You don't scare me."

"Oh but you should be. Because there are twenty men in this room who answer to me, you are all alone, and as good as you are, there is no way you can dodge bullets."

"Suppose she doesn't have to."

Natasha nearly winced when Thor's deep voice sounded from the corner and the tall blonde stepped into the light. He stood at least a head taller than any of the men and he exuded a cool confidence that seemed to be infectious because some of the civilians began to look up at the sound of his voice.

For a moment Konrad looked almost uncertain. Then his smirk returned. "And who might you be? A passing vigilante with a deranged obsession for thrill seeking?"

Natasha locked eyes with the blonde for a brief moment and bit the inside of her mouth as he smirked. "Certainly not," he said. "I wouldn't have made myself known if I was certain that my partner and I could walk away."

Konrad raised an eyebrow, then he turned to the red head. "A partner? Do you recall what happened the last time you had a partner in this situation?"

He paused to let the memory sink in and Natasha locked her jaw. It was something she still blamed herself for. If she'd just been a little faster…..

"I took his head off," Konrad said gleefully, relishing in the memory as much as she abhorred it. Natasha snarled, the look on her face turning feral.

"The only head that will be taken off this time is yours," she said in a low growl. Thor glanced up and noticed the skylights above his head. They might prove useful should he need to make a call.

"This discourse grows tedious," Thor muttered. Konrad looked in his direction as if he had forgotten he was still there.

"Indeed, so let's make this more interesting. I get the beautiful red head and Dr. Kirkwood, I happen to think Stark Industries and the Red Room would pay a pretty price for your return." He glanced at his goons. "Take them."

And that was his first mistake. As soon as the German idiots started in their direction, Thor lifted his hand and a rumbling could be heard from outside. All eyes looked toward the ceiling and Natasha took that moment to start running. She ran to the German nearest her, wrapped her legs around his neck and by wrenching her knees just so, she broke his neck, jumped free and watching him fall to the ground like a rag doll.

Several loud screams caused her to look up and then there was a loud crash as if all the windows in the room had broken.

Which somehow they had. A white hot arc of lightning tore down through the broken skylight and struck the floor with the force of a title wave. Natasha had just enough time to see it coming and jumped high in the air so the concussion wouldn't rock her off of her feet.

When she came down again, the floor had been blackened from the force of the electrical heat and the walls were steaming. She wanted to ponder what had happened. Had it suddenly started raining when they were in the ballroom for the conference? And was that why the lightning had occurred as a stroke of incredible luck?

She didn't have time however, because she had men to take down. She had recovered faster and the fight that ensued after was dizzying.

Because of the lightning, most of the guns had been dropped and thrown to floor on opposite sides of the ballroom. Which gave her an advantage. She lost Thor in the fray but it didn't really matter.

Natasha dashed for the first man and used his height as a ladder to scramble up his back. Wrapping her legs about his neck, she gave a violent twist before jumping off and shoving him into the man that coming at her from the other side.

Once that was finished, she pulled the small circular tasers that were disguised as gems on her bracelets out and flung them at the two men about ten feet away from her. The weapons weren't very big but they contained powerful electric shocks that would render a grown man incapacitated, kind of like the overgrown imbeciles that Konrad had hired.

Sure enough the shocks worked and they both dropped like stones. Natasha snatched one of the switchblades off the fallen guards as she had left her gun in her clutch across the room with the handprint of Kirkwood.

She whirled about to deal with whoever was behind her and stopped short when she saw that it was Konrad.

He grinned today is the day I ensnare you in your own web my Black Widow," he leered and Natasha laughed at the cliché line.

"You know if you spent more time fighting then you did making up supervillain monologues, this fight would be over by now."

He drew his own knife as he had dropped his gun in the electrical storm and the two of them went at it hammer and tongs.

Natasha would later grudgingly admit that he was good. He was definitely trained well, and he was stronger than she was, but not by much. He did have the skill to back up his ridiculous monologues pre confrontation.

But at the moment, all she was focusing on was dodging his strikes. She was good, but so was he and after about five minutes, it became obvious that the two of them had reached a stalemate.

Natasha cursed mentally. They couldn't go on forever like this, she needed to end things and this time. She had to do it for her partner.

So she did something she hadn't done in a while. She slowed down.

And the moment she did so, she felt the harsh pick of steel plunge into the skin on her leg. She didn't cry out, just wasn't her nature. But her face must have shown a grimace because Konrad's eyes widened in triumph and he lowered his guard just long enough for her to do what she needed to do.

Take her own victory

Faster then she would have thought possible, Natasha spun on her uninjured leg and stabbed Konrad in the gut. His face went white from surprise and she shoved it in farther. The German gave a strangled gasp and fell to the floor.

His eyes were wide and his hands clutched at the knife in his stomach in a futile attempt to pull it out. Natasha stood over him, ignoring the slowly growing pool of blood and the screams from the civilians around her.

When the fight ensued, they had seen the broken window and had gone running for the nearest exit. They had all seen their chance and taken it when the windows shattered. There was no one around except the fallen German guards, Thor Natasha and a rapidly dying Anton Konrad.

The ballroom floor was scorched and blackened from the blast of white hot lightning and Natasha absently saw that the hair on the back of her arms was burned. She glanced down at the man who had been at the top of her hit list for three years.

"That was for Nikolai, you son of a bitch," she whispered. His mouth opened and he tried to form words, but all she was able to catch before he stopped moving completely were the words: "I'm not the only one."

"Are you alright?" Thor asked as he came up beside her. She nodded and was about to turn to thank him when she saw something that made his blood run cold.

There was a wrist watch on Konrad's arm. She hadn't been paying attention to it before. But now the screen was staring her right in the face and she saw big red numbers.

Slowly counting down to zero…

"He's going to blow the place up," she whispered. There wasn't time for anything else. Thankfully the fight ended right by the potted plant so Natasha had a second to reach in and seize her clutch bearing Kirkwood's hand print.

And then the two of them hauled ass for the window. Natasha practically threw herself out and dropped lightly to the ground. The good news is that the parking lot behind the hotel wasn't very far away, the bad news was that she landed on her injured leg and let out a loud hiss.

There wasn't time for any conversation as no more than twenty seconds passed before the ballroom of the Hampton Hotel exploded.

Chunks of the building flew into the air and the two agents stopped in the back lot so they could witness the fireworks. Thankfully, they were far enough away and behind the hotel a few hundred yards back was an abandoned industrial complex.

As fire engulfed the Hampton Ballroom and screams from passing spectators could be heard, Thor turned to Natasha.

"Are you alright?" she asked.

"Yes and-" he broke off when he saw that she in fact wasn't. "You're bleeding. We should get someone to look at that."

Natasha shrugged off his concern. "It's only a flesh wound. Konrad and I had reached a stalemate. I knew in order to win, I would have to let him think that he won. He let his guard down and I was able to use it to my advantage."

She took a deep breath suddenly feeling as if a huge weight had been lifted off her shoulders. "Nikolai is avenged."

Then she noticed that she wasn't the only one with a wound. Thor's left shoulder was bloody. But it wasn't the wound itself that drew her attention. It was the fact that his blood was the color of gold. It soaked through the sleeve of his white dress shirt and suit coat, drawing her attention like a magnet.

"You're wounded as well," she pointed out and he nodded absently. She looked away, hoping he hadn't notice she was staring.

Thor ran a hand threw his long pale hair. "Suppose we find a place to lay low for a while until the local authorities deal with the aftermath? We could both do with a rest."

As he said the words, the telltale sound of sirens filled the air. Natasha growled. "I detest police departments, they are so slow and never have the drop on any sort of crime. There are completely inefficient."

Thor gave a rough laugh. "Suppose you bemoan the inefficiency of law enforcement from wherever we lay low?"

"A good idea," Natasha said. She reached into her clutch, being careful to avoid the left side where the palm print was, and pulled out a cellular device. "Let me make a call."

Ω

About twenty minutes after Natasha made the call, a dark car pulled up in front of the industrial complex. It was far enough away that it would attract the attention of the police who had swarmed the Hampton like flies to honey.

Natasha limped toward the car and her partner followed. As soon as they were inside, the car took off for parts unknown.

The red head informed the blonde that the Red Room had many safe houses for their agents all over the world and Miami was just one of the cities.

The car drove along Miami Beach for about a mile until it pulled up in front of a beautiful beach front house marked private. It wasn't enormous, but it was in a secluded spot with a whole section of the beach to themselves and at this time of the night, there was no one there.

Natasha got out of the car and said a few words to the driver in Russian. Then the car turned and peeled off.

From this distance, they could see the bright lights of downtown Miami far off across the water. But where they were was utterly silent.

"What is this place?" Thor asked.

"We are in a part of Miami where the wealthy have their beach front houses. The next house is about two miles down the beach from here, and because it's November, it isn't likely that there is going to be a lot of people around. The bureau buys small secluded houses like these around the world and keeps them well stocked with food and furnished for any agents that need to lay low for a while for whatever reason."

Thor took a look at the small house. It was sort of quaint, it had an old feel to it. There was a wraparound deck with solid oak chairs and a screen door. It was two stories and had white clapboard siding and pale blue shutters.

When they walked inside, they were greeted by a small sitting room and a fireplace, a back door and windows that were floor to floor glass which looked out onto the beach and the crashing waves. There was a small kitchen well stocked with food which Natasha would admit looked like heaven after fighting twenty men.

But that could wait. She turned to her partner. "Let's get cleaned up."

She didn't even want to know what they looked like after walking out of a hotel that just exploded.

The red head grabbed the first aid kit from the kitchen cabinet…..they were always in the kitchen cabinet, and had her partner sit down on the large couch.

"You're going have to take off your shirt," she said as she opened the first aid kit. "I can't get to the wound otherwise."

Natasha bent over the case and began taking out bandages, solvent and braces. The wound in her leg had stopped bleeding and was beginning to naturally cauterize. It hadn't hit any major arteries or muscles so she wasn't worried.

She tore off a strip of gauze with her teeth, dabbed some of the solvent on her leg and then ripped her dress up to her thigh so she could tie the bandage around it. When her crude cleaning method was complete, she turned to her partner so she could address his wound.

The blonde had taken his shirt off like she asked, and while Natasha was pretty much asexual, she could admit that her partner's physicality was distracting. He had the looks of a god and the body to match, but the muscle mass on him wasn't excessive. His build was broad and well proportioned. Given his sapphire blue eyes and strong jawline, he could have could any number of the pathetic women in the country.

She turned to examine the gunshot wound to his shoulder.

It wasn't actually as bad as it had looked at first. Like hers it hadn't hit any major muscles, but the bullet had torn almost clean through his shoulder and when she looked carefully, she could see that it was still in there. The worst part was that it had broken up when connected with his shoulder so there were shrapnel bits embedded in the skin. If she didn't get them all out, his shoulder could become infected.

Although given the fact that his blood was the color of liquid gold, she didn't think that was likely.

As she reached out to put her hands on his shoulder to examine the wound, she could feel the heat rolling off of him in waves, far too hot for that of a normal human, but she could tell he wasn't feverish. It seemed to be the natural temperature of him to be this warm.

Another thing she noticed the closer she got and began to see how deep the wound was, was the almost heady scent he had emanating from every pore in his skin. It was a deep scent that was sharp and reminded her of the smell of the wind right before a storm hit the earth. It had an odd way of stabbing right through her senses and made her almost dizzy.

"How bad is it?" he asked, watching her facial expressions carefully. Natasha glanced at him before answering. "You're going to have some discomfort, but you'll live. Although the golden blood does concern me a bit."

She didn't look at him as she said it. Natasha pulled the tweezers and gauze from the kit as well as a small bowl and began the painstaking work of removing each piece of shrapnel from his shoulder.

Thor sighed, he wasn't sure if she could connect him to the lightning, but after seeing his blood coat the sleeve of his shirt, he knew wouldn't be able to pass that off as a trick of the light.

"I don't expect you to tell me anything," she said calmly as she reached carefully into wound with the tweezers and pulled out a fragment of the bullet before dropping it into the silver pan next to her. "We all have our secrets, you told me so yourself."

He didn't flinch as she was digging around in his shoulder.

"Indeed, but when the secrets that you have may endanger those around you, it sometimes calls for those secrets to be told."

Natasha glanced up as she rubbed solvent with the medicinal gauze around the wounded area to keep it sterile.

"So in the spirit of airing out old secrets, I take it this doesn't hurt does it?" she said gesturing to the wound. He shook his head.

"Not really. I could feel it when it hit me, but I don't typically feel pain. The sensation is there, but none of the unpleasant symptoms."

"And the uh…the golden blood?"

The blonde let out a bit of a breathless laugh. "That….is something that is much more complex than human genetics."

"Yes?"

"Yes, and I fear if I were to tell it to you, you may not believe me," he said. Natasha's brow furrowed as she picked out another piece of shrapnel. She dropped it into the pan along with the medical tweezers and sat back.

"I'm what you would call a genetically altered human being. I've been taking the serums for it since I was fifteen years old. My hearing is highly acute, I can move faster and see farther than the average human. My cells are in a constant state of neurogenesis and my metabolism is faster than any known human. It will take a very long time for me to age. It's unlikely I'll die from natural causes given the serums I'm required to take by the agency. So I can die, but someone will have to murder me for it to happen. I think I can fairly judge on what I can and cannot believe."

Thor folded his hands together and leaned forward slightly, eyes never leaving hers. She found that no one, not even Stefan had as an intense a gaze as he did.

"Very well then," he said. "Since you are a step above the average human, what do you think in your professional opinion, is the next step up from that?"

Natasha picked up the bowl and continued picking the shrapnel out of his shoulder and dropping it into the dish. The consistent ping was the only sound that could be heard in the living room as she thought about his question. She removed the last piece finally and set it on the nearby table before flushing the wound with rubbing alcohol and binding it tightly with the gauze.

"If you had asked me that a couple of hours earlier, I probably would have said nothing. That this is as far as science has been able to go, that there is no next step right now. But given the circumstances," she gestured to the dried liquid gold on his bare shoulder. "I'm inclined to believe that that is not the case."

"No, you would be right. But perhaps a demonstration would be key for emphasizing my point. Would you open the back door please?"

Natasha frowned. "I beg your pardon?"

"Trust me, I will be able to better elaborate in a moment, but I don't want to break anything. If you would?" He gestured to the sliding glass door that opened onto the beach and Natasha shrugged before getting up and pulling it to one side.

The blonde turned and angled himself towards the door. He raised his hand in a reaching gesture and all of a sudden the room began to hum. The table began to shake Natasha could hear the glass dishes clinking together in the kitchen cabinet.

Then with a force that was almost deafening an object came hurtling over the ocean across the sand of the beach and into the blonde's outstretch hand. Natasha blinked.

It was a hammer. But no ordinary hammer that one would use for work in a hardware store. It was like a mallet in that its face was large and square and almost looked as if it was made of lead or some kind of silver. In its face were carved runes that looked ancient. It's handle was brown and laced through with silver. Its pommel was also made of silver and carved with intricate designs.

He held it up slowly so she could get a better look at it. Natasha, curious, went and sat down next to him. This wasn't any type of magic she had ever seen before.

When she was eight years old she had seen her father perform all kinds of magic, but it had always been with a wand. Was her partner a wizard?

The red head looked him and the weapon over carefully. No, he had to be more than that.

"Your ancestors called it magic Natalia, you call it science. I come from a place where they are one and the same thing."

She raised an eyebrow. "Why do I feel like you're not talking about planet earth?" The blonde laughed and she would grudgingly admit that she rather liked the sound of it.

"No," he said. "I'm from somewhere much more fantastical where my powers like mine are not unusual."

"You're not human at all are you?" she asked, already knowing the answer. He shook his head. "I am several thousand years old and in possession of abilities beyond the lot of humans. I don't feel pain and unless I am killed by someone like me, I will never die. What does that make me?"

"A god," Natasha said even as the truth came over her. He nodded and she barked out a laugh.

"Of all things, I certainly wasn't expecting that," she murmured. "But now that I can see it, I suppose it really isn't as unfathomable as it is theoretically."

"I'm not really something that exists by a theory," he said quietly. Natasha cocked her head to one side and looked up at him. "No I suppose you're not," she said.

They were quiet for a moment, each pondering what they had learned. The screen door was still open, emitting the sound of the waves crashing on the shore, and Natasha got up to close it while she still remembered and drew the curtains.

The last thing she needed was to have curious onlookers wandering along the beach and peering into windows.

"Who was Nikolai?"

The unexpected question nearly caused her to flinch. Thankfully she quelled it, but she also decided not to look at him while she answered.

"There's a reason I work alone. It's simple, there's no one to rely on if something goes wrong. There's more responsibility in working alone, but also more freedom. Nikolai was my partner. The only one I felt I could trust. We worked together for three years and became very close." She stopped and looked at the blonde suddenly feeling the need to have to elaborate.

"In a strictly plutonic sense of course, I don't do romance." The blonde chuckled deep in his throat.

"Then one of our lead scientists was kidnapped and held for ransom by Konrad and his goons. They operate on the Black Market and they are well known for having no country to call their home. As you might expect, the Red Room doesn't negotiate, and Nikolai and I were sent in to retrieve the scientist. He was the one in charge of manufacturing the genesis serum which was what was used on me. They also managed to upset our only store of the serum meaning that if we didn't get our scientist back, then our most crucial weapon in nuclear advancements would be gone.

So we went. He was in a holding facility in Poland. But it was a trap, Nikolai and I walked right into an ambush and while covering me and the scientist as we made our escape, he was shot in the back. Konrad wielded the gun. The extraction team met me halfway and we hauled ass back to Russia. Since then Konrad has been at the top of my priority list."

"And this was not love in the slightest?" Thor asked carefully. Natasha looked at him, her face utterly expressionless. "Love is for children. I owed him a debt and tonight, I was able to repay it."

"And do you feel release?" Natasha pondered the question carefully.

"I do. You were the first partner I've had in three years. Stefan always wanted to pair me up with someone because he said that I was too reckless. That I took too many chances. I suppose he may have had a point. I never got anyone killed, but I there were a few times when I didn't do things strictly by protocol because in my mind, there was a better way to do them."

Thor didn't say anything for a while but when he did, his response surprised her. "I have a tendency for being slightly reckless as well."

Natasha barked out a laugh. "Yes but that's different, you're a god, you're allowed to do things a little differently. I would do."

"It all operates under the same principle though," Thor said and he leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees as the two of them looked out on the beach at the crashing waves.

"There was a time when I did things so recklessly that I nearly got myself, my brother and my comrades killed. My father was so enraged that he stripped me of my powers and banished me here."

Natasha raised her eyebrows. "You must have done something incredibly stupid then." A smile of memory touched the blonde's mouth. "Indeed, I nearly started a war which I dragged my brother into. My father thought that if I were to see what life would be like without my abilities then perhaps it would teach me some humility."

"And did it?"

"I like to think so. Took me nearly getting killed as a human to bear myself as worthy before I could return to Asgard."

Natasha blinked. "I'm sorry, where?"

"My home is a place called Asgard. It's one of the Nine Realms that makes up this galaxy. Earth is another of the Nine Realms, but it is the only one that is completely unaware to the others existence."

The red head frowned. "And why is that? It seems as if it would be beneficial to the peoples of earth to have access to the knowledge and resources of a whole other world."

"Ah, you think that now, but if you were to see Asgard, then you would understand why. The natural resources there are astonishing and technology is light years ahead of what earth is doing. In fact it is such that it reaches the realm of the metaphysical."

"It sounds lovely, perhaps if the circumstances were different I could have seen it," Natasha murmured as she gazed out at the ocean. Thor was quiet for so long that she glanced back at him and found him watching her with an unfathomable expression.

"I believe that if that were possible, it would have been a memorable experience for you," he said. Natasha ducked her head out from under the heat of his gaze, uncomfortable when something moved in her lower stomach, something she had long thought was dead.

"But then again, would it even be possible for me to go there, because I am not an immortal being?" she asked turning back to look at him. He was still watching her, in that way he had where he read every inch of her face.

At first it was a little irritating because he could do it so well, and seem to know exactly what she was thinking, but in some ways it was a bit of a relief because that way she didn't have to explain herself each and every time.

"I would find a way," he said softly.

It was then that Natasha realized the proximity that they were in. She blinked and glanced up from this realization to see that his sapphire eyes were trained on hers like shot gun barrels. The space between then narrowed.

It was then that Natasha realized he was going to kiss her. The idea was so shocking that her brain went dead for a second as this was something she was almost entirely unfamiliar with.

The scent of his skin suddenly assaulted her and overwhelmed her other senses with its sharp smell. The heat that his body was giving off seemed to be so hot it would scorch her and appeared to grow even warmer the closer he got. There was a curious gravity that was pulling them together with absolutely no physical ties between them and not only did Natasha feel powerless to resist it, she also didn't want to.

The closer they got, the more her own breathing seemed loud in her ears and the more the heady scent of him sharpened all around. It was almost as if a crescendo was building based on pure power and electrical surges that seemed to spark between his skin and her hand as it was still upon his shoulder from the wound.

Her own skin almost began to feel hot to touch and she wondered absently why before ignoring the sensation entirely as the gravity of the situation and the sharp awareness it was awakening in her was too intense to ignore.

But the moment, his mouth touched hers it was as if someone torched the room with electricity. She honestly felt as if she had been zapped. It was as if a living fire had sparked between the two of them and as his arms moved to enclose her, the weight of them made her almost want to melt as it was a delicious feeling of pressure.

And before Natasha knew it, she found herself responding. It was unethical, it was wrong, it would complicate so many things. She knew all this, but she didn't do anything about it. Every sensation after that seemed more acute, every sound seemed louder, every color sharper, every touch more sensitive, her skin especially as it began to feel as if she were being shocked with the finer points of static electricity but in the most pleasurable form she could imagine.

And the last thought Natasha had before she lost herself to a haze of dark red and gold tones was: _Aw screw it, I'm probably never going to get to do this again. No one has to know, what could go wrong?_

She would find out later just how life altering that thought was.

Ω

It was early morning on Miami Beach and the only person on the beach for miles as a tall blonde who had just come up from the water. He stopped to yank off the shirt he was wearing and examine the wound on his shoulder. He had removed the gauze when he got up and was unsurprised to find that the wound was fully healed and even the scar was disappearing. He was never someone that stayed wounded for long.

Thor sighed and sat down on the sand facing the sun as it rose over the ocean. The water had been cold but nothing like Asgard. He had hoped that a swim might help him think after the events of last night.

It hadn't.

Natasha was still sleeping. He had carried her upstairs and covered her over with a blanket so she'd be more comfortable, all the while praying that she wouldn't wake until later so he could figure out something to say to explain all of this.

Why in Odin's name had he done something that stupid? He had been sent to Midgard on a diplomatic mission for his father and he may have bungled the whole thing because he couldn't keep his hands off a beautiful red head.

Granted she hadn't disagreed with the whole thing, but that was beside the damn point! It was unethical, it was unprofessional and it was just wrong on so many levels.

But bloody Odin it had been amazing.

Thor dropped his head into his hands and gave a quiet groan. "This is a nightmare."

"Somebody's in trouble," sang out a telltale voice behind him.

Thor growled quietly deep in his throat not even having to bother turning around to know his brother was there. "Not now Loki, I need to think."

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. Someone's in a bad mood. I don't know why, sex always puts me in a better mood," said the dark haired god as he came around to face his brother.

Thor got to his feet, not in the mood for idle conversation. The two of them were about the same height, but where Thor was muscled, Loki was more willowy.

"It is not that aspect that's troubling me," Thor began.

At the skeptical look on his brother's face he changed his tune. "Alright perhaps it is. But it's only because last night was completely unethical and unprofessional."

"You're acting as if you can blame genetic makeup," Loki said calmly. "Anyone would be attracted to a woman like that. She's as much to blame for this as you."

"Loki if this is supposed to be a pep talk, it is not really helping me right now."

"I haven't gotten to that part yet," Loki defended. "Look she seems to be the type of woman who is professional to a fault. She's likely to be just as bothered by what happened as you are. So my advice is to act as if nothing happened."

"You think that will work?" Thor asked disbelievingly.

Loki shrugged. "Why wouldn't it? You told me that her work is more important to her then anything. She doesn't seem to have any other type of life outside of it. If she thinks that that life might be threatened by something that happened between the two of you, then she will stop at nothing to put her normalcy back together again. You want to fix this problem? Act as if there isn't one."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course I'm sure," Loki looked indignant, "I'm always sure."

He turned and walked a few yards away from his brother to make his intent that he was leaving to return home clear. "But even if it never happens again, at least you'll have the memory of it."

There was the sound of his laughter and then nothing more as he disappeared in a flash of light.

Ω

When Natasha awoke, she was lying in the bed in the upstairs bedroom covered over with a flannel blanket. She was alone, but that wasn't entirely surprising.

What was surprising was the memories of what had happened the night before. She groaned and pounded her fist against one of the pillows.

Damn it all! How could she have let that happen?!

She was an agent of one of the largest espionage facilities in the world and one night with a good-looking man and she loses all self-control. How the hell had this happened?

Natasha moved to get out of the bed and frowned. Other than the racing of her thoughts, she felt incredibly relaxed as if every muscle had been warmed continuously and then massaged within an inch of its life. She felt warm almost as if she had been near a fire all night. Her skin felt incredibly sensitive as if it had been shocked over and over and than rubbed raw by a pair of rough hands.

The correlation was a little too close to home though.

She threw back the blanket and got out of bed to begin rooting around in the small closet by the door. Upon finding a silk dressing gown, she threw it on and disappeared into the small bathroom.

As she took off the robe, she noticed that her skin indeed looked somewhat red and when she touched it, she felt little tingles rising on her skin.

She also noticed a peculiar scent all about her and when she brought the tip of her nose to the skin of her shoulder, she winced.

It was his scent.

It was all over her like a mist, mixing with her own natural scent and creating a combination that was almost intoxicating in its scent.

As the red head was about to get into the shower however, she noticed a small red scar in the shape of a lightning bolt at the base of her neck leading to the top of her collarbone. She frowned, that wasn't likely to disappear with time.

_I could just say that I fell, _she thought to herself and then jumped into the shower, determined to wash away any remnants from the previous twelve hours.

She would grudgingly admit to herself that it had been one hell of a night. It probably wouldn't have happened on a normal day. But factor nearly getting killed and walking away from a hotel explosion….well she was sure it had a little more to do with that than just simple hormones.

But now she was left with aftermath and the nagging question of what she was going to do. No one could ever find out what had happened. The Agency would question her credibility, she might be stripped of her position.

No, this could never get out. And there was nothing to talk about anyway. It had been a one-time thing, a lapse in judgement, nothing more. If it didn't matter to her, then it wouldn't matter to him. She would just have to act completely nonchalant. She was here on a job, that was what she needed to do.

If only that idiot Stefan hadn't paired her up with Thor in the first place! Now everything was ten times more complicated.

But as she allowed the warm water to wash over her, a thought occurred to the red head. All she had to do to make this go away, was pretend as if it never happened. If she refused to talk about it, then there would be nothing to talk about.

Already feeling a little better, she got out of the shower and found a pair of jeans and a tank top in the closet. It wasn't as professional as she would have liked, but she would suit up later.

Making her way downstairs, Natasha looked around carefully, hoping that he might not be in the house. She walked to the front door and opened it to see if he was on the deck but no such luck.

At her feet though, was the morning paper. She knew for a fact that the paper didn't get delivered this far out of the city and to a house that was usually abandoned twelve months of the year which only meant one thing.

Someone had dropped it off.

She bent down and snatched it up before carefully closing the door and looking down at the headline.

**Vigilantes Rescue Hotel Guests from Armed Hitmen**

The article went on to say that during the international weapons conference the previous night, terrorists had broken in and held the guests hostage and that two vigilantes a man and a woman rescued the hostages.

Thankfully there weren't any pictures of them, but one of the guests identified them as a tall blonde man and a red head.

Natasha cursed. If Stefan saw this he was going to have a field day. Their covers had nearly been compromised.

She looked farther down the article and saw with growing trepidation that the paper also listed the guests who had been attending the conference that night and their cover names were listed. The last line said that police were investigating.

She sighed. The gig was up.

The sound of a slamming door caused her to look up and see her partner walk. There was a towel wrapped around his neck and his chest was bare belaying the fact that he had just bee for a swim. He saw her and stopped, blue eyes watching her carefully.

She held up the paper for him to see. "Our covers' been compromised. We need to get to Stark Industries, get the weapon and get back to Russia. Tonight."

Ω

So...I didn't bother to write a sex scene between our two favourite Avengers in this story for a number of reasons. Doing something like that is really not my forte. I like romance...not smut and I really don't think a scene like that would edify me as a writer or you as a reader in any way. If I tried, it would just come out sounding goofy and forced and that is not something we need. I truly think that when it comes to scenes like that, that less is more. I don't need to see a bunch of sexually intimate scenes to know what's going to happen and when I come across scenes like that in a story, I skip them because I really don't think they're necessary. Anyway, I'm sure you all know that the events of that action have now set in motion things that cannot be undone *cough Hermione cough.* Anyway, I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review :)


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

As the sun dipped behind the horizon and the color of the clouds faded from gold to blue to black, a small black car could be seen weaving through the streets of downtown Miami.

Thor and Natasha were sitting in its backseat with a space between them. They had barely spoken of anything but the contingency plans for Stark Industry the entire day and when they weren't talking, they were in different parts of the house.

Natasha had been hugely relieved when he had chosen to say nothing of the night before and instead pretend that it had never happened. She had silently agreed and instead spent the day corresponding with Stefan and ensuring that everything went according to plan later in the night.

He hadn't been entirely pleased when he found out that they had been indirectly involved with the near destruction of the Hampton Hotel nor the reappearance of Anton Konrad. But what could they have done differently?

The red head and scanned the scientists hand print into the computer and made a mold of it so she could use it to get the two of them into the weapons facility.

At around ten p.m. the car they had used the night before pulled up in front of the small house and the two agents loaded their gear into the trunk of it without the driver ever having to leave the front seat.

Natasha had given the man strict instructions that he was to take their belonging and equipment to the air port's private hanger where there was a small private plane bound for Russia. As far as the American companies knew it was a plane owned by a private Russian stock trading company and two of its employees were in Miami on business for a few days.

They were both wearing the customary all black uniforms. Natasha was not someone for a show of fanfare. There could be no huge fights and explosions tonight. They needed to get in and get out before anyone even knew they were there.

And as long as no German nationalist extremists showed up to replace the fool that was Anton Konrad, then they should be fine.

At least that was what Natasha told herself as she and Thor rode in the backseat of the car into the streets of downtown Miami.

It was after dark when the car arrived several blocks from the Stark Industries Tower. It pulled into one of the back streets behind the warehouse several yards and double parked for about all of three seconds because in the first two Natasha and Thor had sprung from the car and hidden themselves along the shady looking lamp posts.

Passersby would later report that they had seen nothing unusual that evening.

Quickly, the two agents in their customary black darted along the shadows until they reached the fence bordering on the property of Stark Industries. Most of the land behind the warehouse was scrub land and harsh concrete filled with tall weeds and overgrown shrubs. It acted as ideal cover for those wishing to get closer to the building.

As soon they neared the fence, Natasha seized the uppermost rungs in both hands and flipped herself neatly up and over it.

Finally, the two of them neared the warehouse and after ensuring that there were no observers, Natasha darted down the stairwell of the outside entrance and took out the paper baring Kirkwood's hand print and pressed it to the small screen tagged to the wall just outside of the entrance.

There was a flash of green. "And we're in," Natasha whispered to her partner, but all Thor did was nod.

The two agents slipped into the shadows of the underground warehouse. Thor quietly shut the door behind him and all was silent.

The first thing that happened that Natasha wasn't expecting was that there wasn't immediately six guards on them. But she looked and saw that the entire warehouse was enormous and that there were rows and rows of shelves with dangerous weapons on them.

She glanced around and saw immediately why there weren't any guards at least in the general vicinity. There were red laser acidic trip wires everywhere. She knew because they had them in their own weapons facilities in Russia as well. They always sensed movement within a few inches so she would have to stay just far enough between them so they wouldn't sense her presence. And they also caused terrible acidic burns as well as alerting your presence to others while you rolled on the floor in agony.

Yes tripping one of those would not be advisable.

The thing was, they crisscrossed atop the floor and then there were the ones which were shining lasers down to the floor from the ceiling about fifty feet about which were twisted and tangled so much so that there was more red light then there was grey stone floor.

They would be hard pressed to get through the thicket without setting off the lasers.

"I'll go first," she whispered to her partner barely moving her lips. He gave a short somewhat curt nod.

What followed next was a complicated dance which combined tango and perhaps a bit of salsa.

Natasha found herself having to remember steps she had learned as a child when she was a dance prodigy. The whole process of manoeuvring between the lasers to the other side went something along the lines of this:

Step…..

Duck…..

Shimmy…..

Spin…..

Turn….

Shuffle…..

Twist….

Jump….

Hop….

Roll…..

Tip toe…..

And so on and so forth. Natasha could feel the sweat sliding down her back. She wasn't nervous but being under this kind of pressure did make her feel somewhat uncomfortable.

Finally however, she reached the end of the enormous maze of red and breathed a silent sigh of relief when she was at last free.

"Shall we go then?" Natasha blinked and had to suppress her surprise when she saw Thor standing next to her. It was on the tip of her tongue to ask how he had done that, but then she remembered their conversation from the night before and kept her mouth shut.

Silently, the two of them moved into the warehouse. It was an enormous facility and the ceilings were very high with only fifty percent of the lights on. They threw shade on certain corners of the warehouse which of course made Natasha a little wary about going into said corners.

After all this was not a mission like the Hampton Hotel had been the previous night, they were to get in and out without anyone knowing that they were there.

No explosions.

No fights engaging a dozen men.

In and out.

It was with this knowledge that Natasha and her partner moved into the warehouse.

Ω

Surprisingly, it didn't take that long to find the serum.

It was almost too easy and that worried Natasha a little bit.

It was obviously in the process of being tested completely and there was a single wooden crate sitting under a glass case sitting on a platform in the centre of warehouse, a single spotlight perched on the ceiling high above illuminating it.

_How cliché. _

Natasha carefully looked both ways carefully. They had been strangely fortunate not to encounter any guards, but that was a little worrying. She hated when jobs were too easy or too quick. It made her pulse begin to quicken ever so slight and caused her adrenaline to spike.

She forced down her emotions and strode forward quietly, Thor behind her. He had been strangely quiet this entire time and she had a feeling she knew why.

As she neared the platform where the last batch was stored, she could see the distinct lettering on the side labelled S.S.S.

Again, it was almost too easy.

"I take it that this is the item we are supposed to retrieve," Thor said quietly. Natasha nodded without saying a word.

"Do you want to apprehend it or shall I?" he asked. Natasha thought for a moment. "I will," she said. "I've had experience with these lasers before."

Thor nodded and moved back to keep watch. Natasha took a deep breath and took a slow step toward the corner of the four hallways where he would be able to get an adequate view if someone was coming.

Fortunately this time all was silent and Natasha turned back to the scene and took a tentative step toward the platform. As soon as she got within a foot of the first laser beam however, something happened that she didn't intend.

The lasers began to move.

It wasn't as if they had begun to flash back and forth, they literally began to move and circle around. They came towards her and as soon as they came within ten inches they stopped and turned away.

This was going to be kind of tricky and they couldn't stay there for long.

Natasha took a deep breath and immediately became engaged in a game of twister where the object of the game was to avoid both falling and the obstacles. There were times when she had to twist herself into very uncomfortable positions and then flip herself onto her hands as it was the only way she could avoid the lasers.

Unfortunately, as soon as Natasha manoeuvred herself into what appeared to be the middle of the lasers, there was a sudden burst of light which illuminated the whole area, and suddenly an alarm went off.

Every curse she knew flew through Natasha's mind. She was sure she hadn't touched any of the lasers but if security had been set up to trigger an alarm if anyone tried to get near the serum, then it wouldn't matter what technique they used to get to it.

They had maybe thirty seconds before the entire place was flooded with agents and officers.

_Just another day in the life of a Red Room Agent._

Natasha continued flipping through the maze of lasers until she reached the platform where the box with the vials of serum was kept. As soon as she reached it, she pulled her hood up so that only her eyes and nose stuck out, seized the box and tossed it to her partner. Thor had already pulled his hood up as well.

Normally, she would never have pulled a stunt so dangerous, but she knew he would catch it and she also knew that they didn't have time to play it safe.

As soon as she tossed the case, the lasers shut off and the two made a beeline back through the warehouse.

But just as she was becoming convinced that they were going to make it, there came a shout of: "Freeze!"

All of a sudden they were surrounded by about ten security guards with guns and guns and Tasers trained on them.

Natasha decided that she wasn't going to give them time to negotiate or so much as say anything more than "freeze." She yanked two of the mini electrodes from her belt and quick as a whip tossed them at the guards.

There was a cloud of smoke and a burst of electricity, but Natasha and Thor didn't wait to see how many they had downed. They dashed for the door.

Natasha immediately went into strike mode, analyzing the fighting styles of the guards who got in their way and took them down with the practiced ease of a seasoned veteran.

Before they knew it, they were at the door. Thor put his shoulder into it and rammed the door open. They dashed through it and up the stairs, across the hard stretch of pavement to the tall fence. It was already dark out so the red head was sure that no one would know what they looked like.

Cries of: "After them!" could be heard, but Natasha didn't stop to look back. The alarms were going crazy, but she knew as long as their faces hadn't been seen, they were good.

With one hand, Thor pulled himself up and over the fence, Natasha following. They raced across the abandoned lot and Natasha immediately saw the black car waiting for them. There were gun shots behind them, but they kept running.

Natasha threw open the back door and the two dove inside. "The airport Sasha, and quickly," Natasha ordered. The driver threw the car into gear and they shot forward into downtown Miami.

Ω

After that, things seemed to pass in a blur.

It took very little time to get to the Miami airport as there had not yet been roadblocks set up by the policemen and because of the incompetency of local law enforcement who had not even begun to act, no one was tracking them either.

The two changed in the car as they both had plain clothes on under their dark suits, and Natasha pulled a wig and sunglasses from her bag.

As soon as they got to the Miami airport, they reported to VIP baggage claims and were escorted to the private jet bound for Moscow.

However, Natasha didn't relax until they were in their seats, the crate of serum stored carefully on the floor at their feet and they were in the air.

It had all been a little too easy. No one had recognized them, they hadn't been injured, at least not today and had made it out relatively unscathed from the Stark Industries warehouse.

"Are you alright?" Thor asked. He hadn't said much to the red head all day and it felt….off, he didn't really like not being on the same page as a person he was working with and yet he knew it was necessary.

As far as he knew there wasn't a problem, but even pretending that there wasn't a problem still seemed like a problem. The blonde knew after this diplomatic meeting was accomplished for his father, that he would return to Asgard and hopefully wait another century before coming back to this planet.

Natasha seemed to close her eyes and go right to sleep, and Thor blew out a breath of air as he glanced at the crate at his feet.

When he was sure that she was asleep, he leaned down and gently pried the wooden lid off the box and looked at the small vials of pale blue liquid encased in glass.

So much hype over such a small thing. He wondered what the Red Room planned on doing with these and just how exactly the U.S hadn't managed to replicate the serum further. Natasha had told him that with Howard Stark dead and his son too young to take over the business, even though he was a bona fide genius, now was the time to strike and take back what was theirs.

Except, as he looked at the sleeping read head next to him, he couldn't help but wonder what exactly theirs entailed.

He had spent a crazy night with an insanely beautiful and dangerous woman, well dangerous by Midgard standards, and he had no idea what it meant. It didn't really matter, but at the same time it kind of did.

Thor leaned his head back against the head rest. He couldn't wait to go home.

Ω

As it turned out, Stefan was quite pleased with their success. He ensured that the crate was handed over to their scientists immediately and congratulated the two agents on a job well done.

Natasha was pleased with their success, but after the trip to America was put into the paperwork and the question and answer period ended, Thor just seemed to disappear. He didn't say goodbye, he just seemed to vanish. She knew where he had gone and it didn't really bother her, as she knew after the American joyride was completed it wasn't likely that she would see him again.

And this was both relieving and irritating.

She went back to work and he simply disappeared. Everything was calm and peaceful….well as peaceful as it could be when she was a Red Room Agent.

One morning however, she woke to find a strange amber pendent on her bedside table, it was warm and shone like gold on a thin silver chain.

Right away, she knew he had left it.

It wasn't until about a month after the landed back in Russia that things began getting strange. Despite the American government trying to keep it hush, hush, word had somehow gotten out that international security had somehow been breached and that an important weapon was missing. None of the authorities knew about who had done the stealing, since technically the Red Room didn't exist on any political spectrum.

Stefan had told her to leave it alone and it would blow over soon enough. It wasn't as if the American government had room to accuse anyone since the only part that had been seen were their eyes.

So Natasha ignored the American government and ignored the fact that she was without a partner again. There were a few times when she thought about asking Stefan his whereabouts, but she knew for a fact that he wouldn't tell her and she also knew where he had gone. But it wasn't like he had to tell her.

They all had their secrets. And there were some secrets that even she didn't know about.

Which was why when she woke up a few weeks after they had returned, suddenly feeling very ill, that she knew right away something was wrong.

She never got sick.

Never.

But perhaps it was a coincidence. Maybe she'd picked up some kind of bug in America. God new it was a strange country with strange people.

Sure enough as the day wore on, she filled out more paperwork, spent more time in the gym, went into downtown Moscow with some of her fellow agents, the nausea went away and she forgot about it.

But that wasn't the end.

Every morning for the next week, she would find herself running to the bathroom feeling as if she were on the verge of being sick before the feeling would pass.

It was getting alarming because she had never gotten sick since she started taking the serums at fifteen years old. When Natasha had reached twenty one years of age, she had virtually stopped aging and with that her highly charged immune system had rejected all viruses she had come into contact with.

This wasn't making any sense.

On the six morning since the nausea started, Natasha decided enough was enough. She decided to bypass her work altogether that day and simply rest.

But it didn't work. For some reason, the nausea continued all day, and by that night, she couldn't take it anymore.

Natasha threw back the sheet on her bed and stalked out of her room down the hall of the bunker. She boarded the elevator and rode it down to the experimentation and medical sciences floor. No one would be on duty that night she was sure of it, except for one scientists by the name of Horatio. He had been there the longest and had proven the most reliable to her. He had also proven to be the most experiences and intelligent of the Red Room scientists. If anything was wrong with her, then he would know.

She walked down the sterile grey hallways, passed the glass windows that looked into the enormous lab, and when she saw the familiar shock of salt and pepper hair, she came to the window and gave a gentle tap.

He flinched and whirled about, but when he saw her, his shoulders sort of slumped in relief and he closed the file he had been looking into before hurrying to the door and opening it up so he could greet her.

"Natasha, I didn't expect to see you down here anytime soon," he said. Horatio Mendoza was a tall Latin man with salt and pepper hair and black eyes hidden behind wire rimmed glasses. He was wearing a white lab coat and a grey jumper underneath it.

"I need a favor Ratio," Natasha asked, eyes darting left and right to make sure that no one was around. He frowned slightly in concern. "Of course, what can I do for you?"

In answer to the question, Natasha leaned over and pushed the door to the lab open, striding inside. Horatio followed and shut the door behind her. "What's going on?"

Natasha folded her arms across her chest before she turned and faced him, taking a deep breath as she did so.

"You know given the serums I have to take every six months that I don't get sick anymore right?" she asked. Horatio nodded still frowning. "I was analyzing your charts the other day, your vitals are all normal, neural activity is carrying on at its speeded pace and your muscles are functioning like a well-oiled machine. Why?"

Again, Natasha looked carefully around the lab to make sure no one else was there before she spoke again.

"I think something is wrong with me. For the past month or so, every morning, I've been waking up feeling incredibly nauseous. I haven't wanted to take any pills because I figured it was some strange bug I picked up in America. I never liked that place." She sucked at her teeth and glanced down at her feet.

"Well it's probably a good thing you didn't try to take any further medication. I don't know how they would have reacted to the serum in your blood," Horatio said calmly, although Natasha caught the somewhat perplexed look in his eyes.

"Why don't you hop up onto the table and we'll run a scan just to be sure you haven't ingested anything that counteracting with your system," he suggested. Natasha nodded and stepped up carefully onto the examining table and lay down hands folded on her stomach.

She tried to suppress a shudder when her back touched the cool vinyl. The last time she had been on one of these things was when she was a child and she had been pulled from the fire by Ivan. She had felt small and frail and vulnerable at the time and from that moment on, she had sworn to herself that she would never have that feeling again. She would take control.

Horatio pulled the scanner over to the table which was in the shape of a large overhead arch. The technology that the Red Room possessed was years ahead of its time and this particular scanner was Horatio's pride and joy for it was able to detect any abnormalities in the body.

Thank God for the Arms Race.

Slowly Horatio passed the scanner over her but when it stopped at her stomach there was an odd beeping sound. Natasha sat up halfway. "What was that? Is something wrong?"

Horatio frowned as he analyzed the screen. "Let's try this one more time," he muttered and slowly moved the scanner to the top of her head and began to move it down again.

But for a second time, as soon as the light scanning her reached her stomach there was another loud beep.

Horatio pushed the scanner to one side and licked his lips. "Well it would appear that the source of the abnormality is in your stomach. And it seems to be growing."

Natasha then felt something she hadn't felt in a while. Panic.

"Do you mean that I'll have to go for surgery to get it removed?" she asked, trying to keep herself from stuttering. Horatio ran his hand through his hair and looked like he was about to answer when the printer in the corner of the room beeped and began spewing out paper.

"Hold that thought," he said. "Those are the results of your tests. I'll be able to give you an answer immediately. He walked over to the printer and picked up the sheets of paper, and began to scan them.

Natasha watched his facial expressions carefully, trying to determine what was wrong from the way his muscles moved. But after a few moments, she realized she could ascertain what was wrong, because he had stopped moving completely. Horatio had gone stalk still.

"Ratio? What's wrong?" Natasha asked sitting up.

There was a few more seconds of silence where the red head felt she was about to explode from waiting and finally Horatio turned to her.

"I have determined the source of the problem, but it's not a malady or a tumor," he said slowly. Natasha nodded slowly. "Well then what is it?"

"You need to think carefully about how you want to proceed from here on out, this can also be a good thing or it can be a very bad thing," he said and she knew he was beating around the bush.

"Horatio, would you please just tell me what the problem is?" she asked through gritted teeth, although in Natasha's mind, she was really screaming.

The scientist took a deep breath. "The growth I detected wasn't a tumor Natasha, it was a life. You're pregnant."

There was a ten second pause where Natasha felt as if all the air was slowly seeping from her lungs. She opened her mouth but could take in no oxygen. Finally after a few moments of gasping, she was able to choke out: "That's impossible. My immune system would have shut down any incoming toxins or cells that were deemed unfriendly."

"Normally, I would agree with you," Horatio replied. "But it would appear that this fetus is growing faster than I have ever seen a fetus grow. That's why you've been feeling ill so often. It's morning sickness."

"Oh my god," Natasha breathed dropping her face into her hands. Her mind was racing. How the hell had this happened? She couldn't even remember the last time she had had…

Yes she could…..it had been just over five weeks ago, in America where she had had a lapse in rationality and slept with a bloody god!

"What am I going to do?" she whispered. Horatio gave a heavy sigh. "I'm certainly not going to tell anyone, and I'm going to erase the files on the computer and burn these documents as soon as you leave. You don't have to worry about anyone finding out accidentally from me."

"People are going to find out when I start to show Horatio!" Natasha hissed. "What am I going to do?" she moaned.

"I would suggest you get some rest tonight and think about it," the scientist suggested. This is a lot to take in."

Natasha nodded, barely hearing him. She already knew her face was bloodless and she had gone completely expressionless as well. She said goodnight to Horatio, slid off the table and strode from the lab.

It wasn't until she had reached her room again and locked the door behind her that reality hit and Natasha felt herself begin to stumble. She reached forward and grabbed the end of the bed post.

This was impossible, it was insane. There was no way that she could be…pregnant.

But at the same time, it made such terrible sense. She had completely forgotten about using contraceptives that night in the safe house, but she didn't think that she would have to. Thinking back on it, it was the stupidest thing she had ever done in her entire life.

And of course since Thor was a god, it wasn't like he adhered to human biology, even an advanced system like hers. In fact she was surprised that she hadn't thought of it sooner.

She sat down heavily on the bed. What the hell was she going to do?

The most obvious choice of course was to terminate the pregnancy. It was fast easy and more importantly, no one had to know. In fact Horatio could do it…..and no one would ever find out. She killed people for a living, this would be no big deal.

But the more she considered that possibility, the more ill she began to feel, until an intense wave of nausea sent her running for the bathroom. She barely made it to the john in time.

After the convulsions had subsided, she slumped down on the bathroom floor and leaned her head against the wall. Completely out of the blue, she felt sorrow welling up inside of her and for once, she didn't have the energy to push it back down.

So she let it out, quietly of course. Crying was something that was very foreign to her. She hadn't much experience with it as there hadn't been much to cry about in the past few decades. But she had just been told that her career was on the line after she had slept with a god and was most likely carrying his child.

_I can't keep this baby! _She screamed inwardly. _I'm a killer not a mother!_

But it wasn't wholly her decision. The child, boy or girl, was his too. And call her crazy, but Natasha wasn't interested in having a god for an enemy if he were find out that she had killed his child. She had seen what he could do and that just seemed like the tip of the iceberg.

However, there was far more than that that she needed to consider. Suppose she decided to carry the pregnancy to term and then give the child up for adoption?

But then there was the possibility that it would be put into a home and abused. She couldn't in good conscience do that. She may have killed people for a living, but there was no way that Natasha would willingly harm a child. She had been harmed as a child herself so she knew all too well what it was like.

She couldn't do an abortion and she couldn't give the child up for adoption without her conscience giving her hell for the rest of her life.

That left only one option. And it was more insane then the other two put together. It was crazy and impulsive and would break her heart or what was left of it in more than one piece.

Natasha stared down at her stomach flat and tentatively placed her hand on it. Call her crazy, but she suddenly felt a little warmer.

"It's not your fault," she whispered. "You didn't ask for any of this, and if your father had known, then he might not have done it. I wouldn't have chosen this life for you."

A sudden determination seized her and suddenly Natasha felt her resolve harden. "But I will _not _kill you."

She got to her feet and strode out of the bathroom back into the bedroom and began to pace. Her mind was whirling with a thousand possibilities.

If she did this, if she followed through on the crazy notion that was gathering steam in her head, she would be breaking protocol as well as a thousand different rules. One didn't simply quit the Red Room, much less run from it.

But then up until an hour ago, she had thought it was impossible for her to get pregnant and looked where that line of thought had led her.

Natasha sat down on her bed and put her head in her hands. She still couldn't believe she was actually considering this. It was crazy…..nuts…..certifiably insane…..terrifying and not to mention probably illegal.

But the other options were just as dangerous. She had to face it there were to safe options to tack on to her situation. There just weren't. And it wasn't as if her blonde partner was going to show up and offer her any more.

No, she had to make her own way, and for the next nine months, she would be entirely vulnerable. Natasha still didn't know what she would do with the child when it arrived, whether or not she would give it up for adoption. But she did know one thing…..she would not kill it.

It was then that she decided to pick up her cellular phone and make a call. She dialed a number she hadn't dialed in nearly five years and prayed with everything she had that the person on the other end would pick up.

"Hello, it's Ivan speaking."

Natasha almost cried with relief. "Hi, Ivan? It's me, Natasha."

"Tasha? Are you alright? God, it's been years since I've heard from you. Is everything okay?"

Natasha pursed her lips and sucked back the emotion. "No, everything's not okay. I need your help Ivan."

"Of course I'll help you, what's going on?" Natasha closed her eyes, dreading what she was about to say next.

"I need to get out of the Red Room, Ivan. I need to get out. Now."

Ω

**FINALLY! I have been waiting for this chapter for such a long time. We finally get to see the beginning glimpses of baby Hermione. I wanted to explore Natasha's human side a bit in this chapter. It seems like she's always the badass we all know and love, but we hardly ever get to see her more human characteristics. And I thought this pregnancy would be an adequate place and time to showcase them. Don't worry, she's still gonna be the badass we all know and love and Thor will return in later chapters. Until next time...happy reading everyone!**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Everything seemed to pass in a blur after that. In truth, Natasha wasn't sure how much of it that she would remember later.

For the next two days she laid low, but the thing she did the most was look down at her stomach. It didn't seem to grow at all, but it did seem a little firmer.

Or maybe that was because she had just been going to the gym a lot lately.

Ivan had been shocked when she called him, but once she had explained her situation in detail, leaving out the fact of who the father was, he was surprisingly compassionate. She knew he would be the only person she would tell about this because he was the one who had rescued her as a child all those years ago. And when she had told him her reasons for not having an abortion…..excluding the parentage of the person involved, he was surprisingly sympathetic.

She made sure to tell Horatio that she was leaving, after of course she disabled the cameras in the medical laboratory hallway temporarily. She told him she was leaving for England to see her father Ivan and that he wouldn't be seeing her for a while and also ensured to thank him for all his help. He also made sure to tell her that he had put in a request for a transfer to a different facility. It would take about seven months for the paperwork to get through and he was sure that Stefan would make it difficult for him to leave as he was an important commodity, but he was going to make sure he was gone so that no one would ask him any questions. He had already burned all the documents and erased the files on the computer.

Horatio for his part knew that the father must have been her partner. It was the only logic that made sense. He was the last male he had seen her come into close contact with in the last few years. He had seen the tall Agent Einridi when he had come to deliver the serum to them and knew that there would be very few women who would be able to resist that type of man. What thoroughly confused him however was that he had been sure that Natasha would have been one of them.

After lying low for two days, Natasha got the call and threw all of her belongings which weren't much into two gym bags, stowed her gun and knives and all the equipment she could scrounge on short notice into them as well and disappeared from the facility.

Stefan had sent her on a short scouting mission to keep an eye on some American diplomats in downtown Moscow which was where she was meeting Ivan. It was a three day trip, and by the time someone realized she was missing, she would be long gone.

Ivan had said he had a safe place for her to stay and she believed him. He was the only one she had ever been able to fully trust because he had practically raised her. When she had wanted to join the Red Room at fifteen he had supported her decision even though he didn't fully agree.

After slipping into one of the armored jeeps in the facility lot, Natasha drove out of the gates. She never looked back.

As she drove, she thought about Thor and what he would do if he knew. The strange amber pendent she had found, which she was sure was from him was stowed away in her bag as well.

_God, I feel like I've been running through a fog all week with no idea where to go. I found out gods are real, and then ended up sleeping with one and then I get back to Russia, find out I'm pregnant with said god's child and am now on the run from the job I've done nothing but help since I was fifteen years old._

Natasha ran a hand through her hair as she drove. Ivan said he had a cover story for her. Something to help her change her name, get a job, and basically convert her into the typical single mother while she was going through the pregnancy, although Natasha didn't see how that was possible. She spoke a dozen languages, knew every martial art form, could kill a man in twenty three different ways and had travelled to every major country in the world.

What single mother did things like that?

But no one would know.

That was the important part, no one had to know about her past. She would just be a face in the crowd. She would have to dye her hair and put on contacts, and leave the name of Natasha Romanov behind her.

She sighed and glanced down at her stomach for a minute, and wondered whether the child growing inside of her was a boy or a girl. In a roundabout way she kind of hoped it was a girl. Maybe she would get to name her before she gave her away.

_You don't know that you're going to do that yet._

The beautiful red head scoffed aloud. Of course she would have to give up the child. What other option did she have? She wasn't a mother. She didn't know the first thing about taking care of a child.

But there was a still small voice inside of her whispering that she couldn't do that. There was more to the story. Suppose the child's father who was a god showed up and demanded to know what she had done? Knowing Thor's character, she didn't think he would do that, but how much did she really know about him?

He didn't have to know. There was no way of him knowing that she was pregnant. In fact Natasha wouldn't put it past him to never come back to earth again.

It would probably be easier for everyone if he didn't.

It took her a few hours to roll into Moscow and double park behind one of the main hotels. It was where the American diplomats were staying anyway so even if they tracked the car down here after the three days was up, she at least wouldn't look suspicious.

She took the keys out of the ignition and dropped them into her lap before resting her head on the top of the steering wheel and closing her eyes.

This was without a doubt the most reckless thing she had ever done. The rational thing would have been to stay and terminate the pregnancy and pretend like none of this had ever happened. It's not like Thor would ever find out anyway.

Immediately a sour feeling entered the pit of her stomach and she swallowed. Natasha may have killed men for a living but there was no way in good conscience that she could kill a child. It would haunt her for the rest of her life.

Determined not to think about it for the next few hours at least, she exited the jeep, and slung her two bags over her shoulder. Then she pulled her hood over her head. A red head was far more conspicuous then a blonde or brunette.

Ivan had told her that he would be waiting for her in a blue sedan, the license plates reading: L2G4Y6. Carefully, using her eyes only, she looked around until she had located the vehicle and then strode quickly toward it.

The driver door opened and the familiar face of Ivan appeared. Immediately, Natasha felt as if an enormous weight had lifted off of her shoulders and she hurried forward and gave him a hug.

"Hey are you alright?" Ivan asked. "You're shaking."

He was an older man, getting on in years. He had been a Soviet soldier in the years past but was now working for the British Secret Service based out of London. He was about six feet two inches, still pretty muscular, had salt and pepper hair and dark brown eyes.

"Yeah….yeah I'm fine. I have a three day head start on them, and before they even know something's wrong, I'll be long gone," she replied wiping the hand over the back of her eyes.

"Come, get in the car, we should get going."

Ivan threw her bags in the backseat and Natasha got inside. Ivan revved the engine and they tore out of hotel parking lot.

Ivan had told her he had a small chartered private plane leased to him from Britain and that he was taking her down there so he could keep an eye on her.

It didn't take too long for them to get to the airport and Ivan had her keep her head low until they were on board. It was a small sleek gulfstream much like the one that she and Thor had flown in to Miami.

As soon as they were clear for takeoff, Ivan sat down in the seat next to her and handed her a passport.

"Starting now and heading into the indefinite future, you are now Emma Granger and you live at 5 Privet Drive, Little Whinging Surrey, in England," he said. "It's a quiet neighborhood with nothing but working class families. You'll be completely inconspicuous there. Also there will be a job waiting for you on Monday. It will be something simple, reception work at a dentist's office in London. It's owned by a married couple, Dan and Jean Garrett."

"Thank you Ivan," Natasha said breathing a sigh of relief. He nodded in response. "But Natasha this is all very confusing. I need to know how exactly this happened."

The red head gave him a look. "Becoming pregnant is not a rocket science Ivan."

"You know that's not what I meant. You've always been rational cool and level headed. Nothing ever fazes you and then after five years of not hearing from you, I get a phone call asking for help to get out of the Red Room because you're pregnant. Do you realize how out of character that sounds? I didn't even think that it was possible for you to get pregnant at all."

"That's what I thought too," Natasha replied leaning her head back against the seat. "Evidently, something is wrong with the technology and having sex is still a risk."

"Can I even ask who the father is?" Ivan asked spreading his hands. He looked somewhat desperate and immediately Natasha felt sorry for him. This was the man who raised her and she hated keeping secrets from him. But the truth was dangerous. Her child was part god and the ramifications of that were sure to be catastrophic if they were to be found out.

"Let's just say he was a former partner of mine the last one I had, we both had a lapse in judgement during an assignment to America and that's it," she replied vaguely. Ivan sighed and she could tell that he was frustrated she wouldn't tell him the truth, but for right now, lies were what was keeping her safe.

He said no more after that and she leaned her head against the window looking out, before placing a hand on her stomach.

Everything was about to change.

It was a couple hours before they landed in a private airplane hangar at Heathrow International Airport.

Natasha and Ivan collected their bags and went through a private customs officer where they flashed their passports and walked outside to a private parking lot.

It was the middle of the night, but it was still warmer than Russia had been. Natasha flipped the collar of her coat up and tossed the bags into the trunk of Ivan's Benz.

She hopped into the front seat and Ivan peeled out of the parking lot.

"So how far is it to Surrey?"

"About a half an hour."

The next thing that Natasha knew, Ivan was shaking her awake and they had pulled into a small modest home in a neighborhood that looked like it had come right out of a Stepford Wives magazine ad.

The lawns were all small and manicured, every house was brown brick with white clapboard siding and were all two stories. There was a single car garage painted white and a grey mailbox with the house address on it at the end of the driveway.

It was all utterly…..normal.

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. Normal was just what she needed. Ivan took her bags from the trunk and opened the door to the house.

There was a small living room fully furnished and modestly painted a light blue. There were two couches, a love seat and an arm chair as well as a small TV. Down the hall straight ahead of her was a small kitchen with the cupboards and stove and refrigerator to one side and a table with glass doors behind it leading out to a carefully tended back yard. As soon as she walked in the door, there was a set of stairs leading up and to the left to the second floor.

"It's perfect," she muttered and turned to Ivan who was standing beside her. "I think I'll be safe here."

"That's why I picked it. If you need anything, I'm only just a phone call away. Oh, and here." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a cellular phone much like the one she had used at work and passed it over.

"Thank you Ivan," she whispered and gave him a hug. He returned it and for a moment, she knew everything was going to be alright.

Ivan left and shut the door locking it behind him, promising that he would be touch. Natasha took a deep breath and took her bags upstairs. It was a three bed room house so that meant two extra rooms that she would never use.

Natasha checked the windows and locks before taking her two bags upstairs and dropping them in the master bedroom. She picked up her towel and went to take a shower. As soon as she shut the bathroom door, she saw a box of hair dye sitting on the bathroom sink and grinned. Ivan had thought of everything.

Before she went to bed, she set her hair and made sure that the towel was positioned carefully on her head. She was no stranger to having to change her look, but this was the first time she had had to hide from her own place of employment.

After waiting the appropriate amount of time, Natasha pulled the towel off her head and long brunette curls bounced down around her shoulders. They were the color of dark oak and mahogany and absolutely gorgeous. Even her roots were covered. She had always had long hair and it was one of her features that she was absolutely unwilling to do anything about. But now it looked completely natural. No one would ever know this wasn't her real hair. And she had to make sure that no one ever saw the red.

She was going to keep her green eyes though.

After making sure that she had packed her clothes away into the dresser, she got into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin.

It was her first night in a completely different house as a completely different person. This was going to take some getting used to.

The next morning, Natasha decided that she wouldn't hide out any longer. Stefan wouldn't know she was missing for another two days at least and the last thing she wanted to do was present herself as a pariah to the neighbors.

She threw on a normal track suit and decided to go for a run. There was no sense in being sloppy and she'd been raised by a very strict military man who took her for runs every single morning until she joined the Red Room, and then the training got even more intense.

She wasn't worried about having to appear as one of the locals. She had been in deep cover in England for a year and the accent was pretty easy to pick up. Now she could turn it on and off like a faucet.

No one would ever know.

_Just keep telling yourself that Tasha and everything will be okay._

She laced up her shoes and was gone from the house before the sun even came up.

As she ran, Natasha thought about the baby growing inside of her what exactly this child would mean. She knew that boy or girl it was part god but what about what her genes would mean for it. She was a modified superhuman, would that mean that her baby would be just she was? Able to run faster and see farther than a regular human being?

She ran past a children's park and stopped when she caught sight of the swings. No one was there of course, it wasn't even seven in the morning yet, but something about the swings captured her attention.

It had been years since Natasha sat on a swing and the sight of one now brought back a long of memories when she was young and Nina would push her on the swings.

On impulse she walked over and sat down in one of them, and began pushing herself back and forth. Immediately the memories came rushing back.

_ "__Higher Nina!" a five year old Natasha yelled. "Push me higher!"_

_ "__Tasha, you know what Mama said," Antonina replied with six year old logic that her mother had imparted to her. She said that she shouldn't do anything foolish._

_ "__We're not being foolish, we're having fun!"_

Natasha blinked and came out of the memory. The swing set in her memory was scarily similar to the one Nina had pushed her on when they were small.

Would her child swing on one of these when she was old enough?

Whoa.

Back the truck up.

Where had that thought come from? It wasn't like she could really keep the baby. She had a job to get back to. She would find a nice couple to look after the child and maybe come down every so often to see her or him.

But she wasn't a mother that much was true.

She glanced down at her stomach and felt hot tears prick her eyes. God, she'd been crying far too much lately. Hormones probably.

"I'm sorry," she whispered as she sat on the swing set in the park in the quickly gathering dawn. "But I wouldn't be a good mother and I need you to know that. I wouldn't be able to take care of you. I don't know where your father is and I have no guarantee that I'll ever see him again. I want you to be happy and there is no guarantee that that will happen if I raise you alone. God knows I could keep you safe with how trained I am, but this wouldn't be the life I would have chosen for you. You need someone consistent…..and that's not me."

Natasha got up off the swing and ran back to the house, eyes still leaking tears. Why was coming to this conclusion so hard?

She arrived back at Privet Drive in another fifteen minutes and by this time it was almost seven thirty. As Natasha jogged up to the house, she could see another woman in the house garden out front next door, she was tending the flower beds and had curly blonde hair.

Natasha must have made a sound as she walked up her driveway because the woman turned and when she had caught sight of her, she smiled and waved.

"Oh hello! I didn't know that anyone had moved into the house next door. It's been vacant for a few months," she said.

Deciding that she should probably play nice with the neighbors for the sake of her image, Natasha returned her smile and wandered over.

"I just moved in yesterday. My husband's in the army and we travel all over. He isn't at home half the time," she said. "I'm Emma Granger."

The blonde woman straightened up and beamed at her. She had clear blue eyes and a somewhat longer neck, but Natasha thought that it suited her. She had a bright smile, but there was something in her eyes that was kind of sad. Overall, she seemed like a sweet woman.

"I'm Petunia Dursley," she said. "The army huh? That must be difficult, I don't know if I could handle my husband shipping halfway across the world for-"

"Petunia!" a harsh voice yelled and she flinched. Natasha as Emma looked up to see a man who startlingly resembled a walrus lumbering toward them. He was huffing and puffing and looked clear read in the face. He had small eyes that reminded her of a pig and a tuft of brown hair on the top of his head. He was dressed in an ill-fitting grey suit that did nothing to compliment his lack of a figure and the collar and tie looked like they were strangling him. The expression on his face was furious.

Natasha had a lot of experience reading people and getting first impressions, and there weren't many people that she would instantly dislike on sight.

But this man was one of them. As soon as he bellowed the name of his wife she flinched. When he finally reached them, he seized her arm. "Why isn't breakfast on the table?"

"I woke up early and I thought I had a few extra minutes to do some gardening," Petunia whispered, her hands trembling slightly.

"I've told you before, you can garden on your own time. I want breakfast on the table before I go to work, didn't I say that?"

"Y-Yes…..yes you did Vernon. I'll…..I'll go and get it started right now." She turned to walk away and then turned back to Natasha, a weak smile on her face. "It was nice meeting you Emma."

"You too," Natasha murmured watching her carefully. As soon as Petunia was out of sight, her whale of a husband turned to her.

"Just move into the neighborhood?" he asked and Natasha barely resisted the urge to curl her lower lip in disgust. His small piggy eyes were looking at her like she was a piece of meat and she could almost see the drool gathering in the corners of his mouth.

"Yes, if you'll excuse me," she said curtly and turned to walk away but had gone no more than three steps when he called out: "Don't be a stranger you hear? We love to have guests over."

Natasha nodded, walked calmly into the house and slammed the door. She clenched her fists and a quiet growl came from her throat. The man was an abuser it seemed, no wonder his wife was scared of him.

And she seemed like such a sweet woman too. Natasha decided that she would just have to keep an eye on the situation. If there was one thing that she hated it was domestic violence and if that man was beating his wife, she was going to do more then ask Ivan to step in. She would do something herself.

It was a Saturday, and she didn't need to be into the office until Monday. Ivan had driven past it the night before and pointed it out to her so she knew where it was. It wasn't far from there, in fact she could probably even walk.

As Natasha went to the kitchen to find herself some breakfast, she contemplated the situation next door.

Vernon…..Vernon Dursley…..what the hell kind of name was that?

Natasha poured herself a glass of orange juice and downed it before finding the blender and tossing in a few fruits from the fridge for a protein shake. What kind of sweet woman was married to a whale like that?

As she moved to the kitchen table, Natasha accidentally kicked her backpack which she had left there the night before. There was a clanging sound and she looked down at it in surprise.

Picking up the bag, she placed it on the table and unzipped it before reaching to the bottom and pulling out a familiar wooden box.

Natasha stared at it for a long time, before unclasping the latch and opening the lid. There, nestled on a bed of black velvet was her familiar cherry red wood wand. It was still perfect just like the last time she had picked it up.

And then a thought struck her. She was a pureblood witch…..sure a non-practicing one, but still a witch and she could still perform simple magics. So would that mean that the child would have magic as well in addition to being a god?

It was all a little too much to take it. Natasha sat down heavily in one of the kitchen chairs and turned the wand over and over in her hands. It was a simple piece but also incredibly powerful if handled the right way.

If the baby was magical, she should find some way to have access to magical books for it and maybe find a way to teach herself.

Wait a minute…..she was going down that road again. The road where she contemplated what life would be like if she kept the baby.

Was it really such a crazy idea though? Whatever child she did have would likely be more powerful than any other child, it would be half god and magical as well. There was a chance that it wouldn't be magical but being a demigod…..that was something that wouldn't be erased.

If the father was around he might offer her more options but she never expected to see him again, so she couldn't bank on things that might never be.

It was time she started looking into adoption agencies. She needed a backup plan.

Ω

The god of lightning was feeling very conflicted.

Before he had left Natasha he had left an amber pendant on the bedside table of her room. They had had a crazy time together and even though they had never talked about it, he didn't want her to think that he didn't care.

That was why the necklace was more than just a keepsake, it was also a tracking device and would alert him if she were ever in any danger.

But things down on Midgard had been strangely quiet. He hadn't heard so much as a peep from them about the human war. But it wasn't that that was concerning him. Natasha had been as quiet as a mouse. It have been almost two months since he had left her and there had been nothing.

He knew it had been a clean break but still…..one didn't just spend the night with a beautiful woman and then never ever wonder about her again.

He was currently in the training yard before the palace of Asgard having just finished a sparring match with his brother. As always it had been a tie, but Loki as usual was insisting that he had won.

Thor wasn't paying much attention though. He had been contemplating going back to Midgard for the last few days, just to check on her….make sure she was alright.

"Are you even paying attention to me?" Loki asked and the blonde actually jerked as if he was startled. "What?"

The dark haired god gave his brother a look. "You were thinking about her again weren't you?" The blonde gave a frustrated growl.

"I would highly advise that you release this notion of seeing her again, because not only would that be utterly insane, but also very dangerous. If Odin forbid, Father finds out about your…..dalliance to use such a word, your head would be on the chopping block. And suppose something even worse happens?"

Thor turned to face his brother. "Like what? What could possibly be worse?"

"Suppose she gets pregnant?"

For a moment, Thor's mind whirled before calming. "That's not possible."

"How do you know?"

"Because Natasha….she's not entirely human either."

"Are you saying she's one of us?"

"No, but I am saying that it's impossible for her to get pregnant because down on Midgard, she's what's known as a super human. The agency she works for has been providing her with serums to increase her metabolism, sharpen her eyesight and hearing, that kind of thing. She can run faster and hit harder than any human I've ever seen, and she told me that her immune system burns to ash, any unfamiliar toxins or cells that enter her body, so her getting pregnant wouldn't be possible."

"You forget what you are," Loki said stepping forward. "You don't adhere to any human genome because you aren't one. If she had a chance of becoming with child by anyone then it would be you."

This was not good. Thor didn't want to have to worry about this on top of everything else. Midgard may have been calm, but the Nine Realms certainly weren't. Odin had him and Loki and their closest friends running around on peacekeeping missions for the past month and a half, he had barely had time to think about what had happened down on Midgard and Loki was the only one who knew about it.

"What do you think that I should do?" the blonde asked. Loki sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "The way I see it you have one of two options to choose from. You can follow through on this thoroughly obtuse notion of going to back to Midgard to try and find Natasha and see if she is alright, or you can take my advice which is much more sane by the way, and forget your time down there ever happened, because the chances of your finding her again, are slim to none."

Ω

_5 Months Later…._

Natasha was beginning to fully understand why pregnant women could be so unpleasant to be around sometimes.

It had only been five months since she found out she was pregnant and six months since she actually was, but she felt as if she had swollen to the size of a whale. Of course this wasn't true, and anyone who saw her would think that she looked very good for six months. There was a healthy glow about her and her maternity clothes weren't even that large.

She exercised every day and constantly ate healthily, so that wasn't really a concern. Ivan had connected her to his private doctor so she didn't have to worry about going public.

"I wish all of my female patients were like you," Dr. Radcliffe said. "Judging from how healthy you are, there aren't going to be any complications with this pregnancy."

But that wasn't what worried Natasha. It was the impending decision she would have to make when the child was born.

What was she going to do? Keep it or give it up for adoption? It was already too late for an abortion, and she felt sick even thinking about that prospect.

Dr. Radcliffe had told her it would be a little girl.

A girl.

God, what was she supposed to do with something like that? She hadn't looked at baby names or set up a room or anything.

What the hell was she doing?

Something else that thoroughly worried her was that she hadn't anything from Russia. Not a peep for the last five months. Ivan had told her he had been carefully monitoring the situation, but so far there was nothing. There was only so much digging that he could do without arousing suspicion. But things were a little too quiet.

On a nicer front, she had actually managed to develop a few friends. There was a very sweet couple across the street, the Barlow's, who had taken it upon themselves to come over the day after she arrived with a basket of fresh baked goods to welcome her to the neighborhood.

She gave them the usual song and dance about her husband being a soldier and them having to travel a lot and they were very sympathetic and had actually invited her over for dinner a few times.

The other friend she had managed to make was her next door neighbor, Petunia Dursley. As soon as Vernon left for work, it was like the blonde became a completely different person. She actually smiled and was quite pretty when she did. But there was a sadness in her eyes that Natasha wondered at.

One afternoon about six months into the pregnancy, Petunia, whom Natasha noticed was pregnant herself a few months ago, knocked on the door.

Natasha opened it and smiled at her when she saw the basket in her neighbor's hands. Petunia had a habit of bringing things over that she thought Natasha needed and the former red head didn't have the heart to tell her that just because her pretend husband was away, didn't mean that she couldn't do things for herself. This time it was a basket of fresh baked goods and when she learned that their babies were due only a few months apart, it gave her even more of a reason to talk.

"Have you found out the sex of the baby yet?" Petunia asked. The two women were sitting at the kitchen table enjoying some of the things she had brought over. Well Petunia was, Natasha was sipping on a glass of tea and munching on a very small piece of cranberry bread. She knew how addictive sugar was and though her metabolism wouldn't allow her to gain weight, she still wanted to avoid it as much as possible.

"Yes, um, I'm having a girl."

Petunia's eyes creased into a gentle smile. "That's wonderful. I just found out from the doctor that I'm having a boy."

"What are you going to call him?" Natasha asked curiously. Petunia's smile faltered somewhat. "Vernon wants to call him Dudley."

Natasha felt something in her soften, which was why she surprised both Petunia and herself when she reached out and gently squeezed the other woman's hand. "And what name do you want to call your son?"

Petunia left her hand under Natasha's for a moment, before pulling it out and looking away. "It doesn't matter what I want. And Dudley's a decent name."

"Just not the one that you would have picked," Natasha prompted, but Petunia didn't answer. "It doesn't matter," she said again. "Vernon's happy with it because it's something him and his foghorn of a sister picked out." She gave a choked laugh and wiped her eyes. It was a long moment, but she glanced up at Natasha again.

"He didn't used to be like this you know? Before he took over Grunnings from his father, he was a military man like your husband. He was tall, handsome, confidant. We thought it was just us against the world, and then the bills and a thyroid problem kicked in and this is what he turned into."

"It still doesn't give him the right to abuse you."

Petunia looked up at Natasha like a deer caught in the headlights. "How did you-" Natasha held up a hand. "Some things are easy for me to figure out for myself. The way you always flinch when you're around him is a good indicator. You don't have to put up with that, you shouldn't have to."

Petunia wiped her eyes and stood up. "I should be getting back, Vernon will be home soon and I haven't started dinner."

"Petunia."

The blonde looked back as she started for the door. Natasha was still looking at her. "If you ever need anything, you know you can always come here right?"

The other woman gave her a watery smile. "I'm glad you moved in next door Emma. It's nice to know I'll have help if I need it." Then she was gone. Natasha heard the door shut and sighed before taking a sip of her tea and staring out the glass door into the backyard.

"Now if I could just figure out who's going to help me," she murmured. She didn't realize it at the time, but her hand was on her stomach.

Ω

Now Thor was just confused.

He had decided against his better judgment to take a quick look into the past.

The amber pendant he had left Natasha was one of a set of two and he had the other. It would burn to alert him if she was in any danger. But when he had returned to his chambers that night, it had been glowing. When he touched it, it didn't sting, but it was warm against his fingers.

Now what on earth did that mean?

He picked it up and rubbed it between his fingers. He knew she wasn't in danger, but it was still a little bizarre.

Perhaps it was time that he plan a trip down to Midgard. After all what could it hurt? If he cared enough about Natasha to give her a necklace that alerted him to whether or not she was okay, then perhaps it wasn't that crazy of a notion.

Or maybe that was just what he was telling himself so he could see her again.

They both had a lot to lose from that one encounter, but as long as no one found out about it, he was safer then she. After all he could escape Midgard, the place where it had happened, and she couldn't. If someone did find out, there was only so far that she could run.

And the thought of that made him a little nervous.

Maybe it was time for a backup plan. Loki wouldn't like it, but no one would ever have to know.

Ω

Natasha knew for a fact that she never wanted to be pregnant again. Her feet hurt, her back hurt and she felt as if she had a never ending head ache.

Although it would seem that her discomfort had nothing on Petunia's. After about a month of Natasha being pregnant, her morning sickness had completely disappeared. But Petunia was still violently sick. She joked to the former red head that it was a good thing she was a stay at home mom because there was no way she would be able to get maternity leave.

Natasha could think of a few reasons that she wouldn't be able to and they all started with Vernon Dursley. She was beginning to almost violently dislike the walrus, and constantly went out of her way to avoid seeing him. She only went over to the house when he was at work and to check on Petunia.

But tonight she wasn't going to pay a visit to the Dursleys. After a few months of making up excuses, she had completely run out and was therefore having dinner with the Barlow's across the street.

Amelia Barlow and her husband Ted were both professors at Cambridge University. They lived in the small two bedroom house across the street. Amelia loved to garden and Ted was a mechanic junky, almost every time Natasha went out to get the mail, he could be seen working on the classic Mustang in their garage.

They had always been incredibly sweet to her and she felt a little bit guilty about blowing them off and so had decided to take them up on their offer for dinner.

The only problem was that there weren't such things as nice fitting maternity clothes. Natasha turned around in the mirror. Just when had she gotten so vain?

Maybe since she had ballooned to the size of a plow horse.

_Never again, _Natasha thought as she examined her waistline for the umpteenth time in the mirror. _I will never sleep with anyone again._

Deciding that the maroon sweater and dark jeans she was wearing was as good as it was going to get, Natasha threw on a pair of flats and locked the door to number 5 Privet Drive behind her. She looked both ways before crossing the street and hurried up the drive way to the Barlow's front door.

It was a modest house, similar to the one that she was inhabiting but this one was covered with flowers and had ivy crawling up the side of the red brick to rest at the shutters at the top.

There was a single car garage and the front door was covered over by a small white awning.

When Natasha knocked on the door, it opened approximately five seconds later, and Professor Barlow appeared.

Amelia Barlow was becoming somewhat hunched. She was in her fifties and taught economics at Cambridge University where her husband also taught Shakespearean literature. She was wearing a blue blouse and pantsuit with her light brown and slightly greying hair pinned back in curls. She had clear blue eyes and when she smiled, the lines around them could be clearly seen.

Natasha had kept to herself for most of her time there, not wanting to get too close to anyone, thinking that she would be gone from this place soon enough, any no one would expect anything less, given the story she had spun for anyone who asked.

But the Barlows had refused to be put off by her cool demeanor and non-committal answers. And in some ways, Natasha kind of liked them for that. They were stubborn just like she was.

"Emma! Good, you're here," she said and then turned to call back behind her into the house. "Ted, Emma's here!"

"Thanks Amy, I'll be right there."

Amelia led Natasha into a house that was simply put….old. There was an antique china cabinet in the den that appeared well into its fifth decade and a glass claw foot coffee table as well as a patterned striped couch that went with the pale blue of the walls surprisingly well. There was also a matching striped armchair into which Natasha carefully seated herself. She knew she would probably need help getting up again as her center of gravity was constantly shifting and the baby bump was now quite noticeable.

Suddenly, she felt a little uncomfortable. Whenever she had talked to people in the past it was usually to receive instructions from them to get some information out of them as per her instructions.

But small talk and polite conversation simply for the sake of having polite conversation?

That was a whole other ball game.

Natasha took a deep breath and made a silent oath that she would not say or do anything to embarrass herself in front of the Barlows. After all, most of what she would be telling them were lies anyway.

Amelia offered her something to drink and Natasha decided that tea would be a safe bet, and it would also give her a few moments alone to organize her story.

About five minutes later Ted wandered in and sat down opposite her from the couch. He was a well-built man, and she often saw him running in the evenings after she got home from work at the office.

That was something else that she was still getting used to, having a job that was as consistent as the rising sun. She got into the office at nine in the morning, filled out paperwork and worked on the computer until four when she took the commuter train home.

The moment the Garrett's saw how proficient she was with a computer, they immediately had her redoing all of their software into more efficient settings. Natasha ensured that she was careful not to be too brilliant, the last thing she wanted was to draw more attention to herself then necessary.

Was she a person who had access to more of her brain power then the average person? Yes, but that didn't mean that everyone had to know it.

She carefully steered the conversation toward cars. Collecting classic cars had been Ivan's hobby when she was living with him, and she had spent many a weekend working on them with him, as he had stressed the importance of females knowing the ins and outs of mechanics.

When Amelia came back in, it was to tell them that dinner was served in the dining room. When Natasha entered the small dining area with its antique chairs and pale green walls and china cabinets, she was suddenly struck with an odd feeling of déjà vu. Ivan's wife had died before she came to live with him, but she had collected china dishes for a living.

Ivan had never told her why.

As soon as Natasha saw the creamy lasagna sitting in a glass dish next to the Caesar salad, her stomach growled, but she had to remind herself to only eat as much as necessary. She was eating for two people, but that didn't mean she was about to go crazy with the calories.

"So how many months are you along Emma?" Amelia asked as they were spooning their food onto plates. For a moment, the former red head froze, but then resumed her even tone.

"Six months," she replied carefully. Amelia slowly spooned salad on to her plate. "Well you've passed the halfway mark, that's got to be a bit of a relief."

"Did you feel that way when you were having children?" Natasha asked. There was an uncomfortable silence for about two seconds.

"We never had children Emma," Ted explained patiently. "Amelia had two sisters and a brother who did, but we were never able to."

"I'm sorry," Natasha said quietly, suddenly feeling a little embarrassed. Ted waved off her apology. "Don't apologize, you didn't know."

"Is it going to be a boy or a girl?" Amelia asked as if the small uncomfortable moment had never happened. Natasha inwardly exhaled in relief.

"I heard from my doctor that it's going to be a girl," she replied and was a bit surprised to feel a smile spreading across her face.

"Well your husband must be very pleased," Amelia said smiling. "Have you picked out a name yet?"

"Not yet," Natasha said inwardly cursing that she hadn't come up with a better story. "There are so many beautiful names out there, that it's kind of difficult for me to pick just one."

"You know that I teach Shakespearean literature? And some of the most intriguing female names come out of the writings of his plays."

"Names like Juliet, I suppose?" Natasha asked, a slight smile playing up her features. She hadn't read much Shakespeare when she was a child, only what had been in Ivan's house at the time, but she had always found the names strange and somewhat intriguing.

"That's only the most common name." Ted had laid down his fork and put one finger in the air like he was about to give a history lesson, but Natasha found she liked it. Sure the Barlows were quirky and a bit odd, but they were genuinely good people, and she had spent so much time in the presence of questionable morale, that she had completely forgotten what the opposite spectrum of people looked like.

"Juliet is the most common name in Shakespeare, however there are many more names such as: Bianca, Portia, Eleanor, Celia, Helena, Viola, Olivia, Rosaline and my personal favorite, Hermione."

Natasha blinked. "Really, why that one?"

This time it was Amelia who answered. "Firstly because it was the only name we could agree on and secondly, because Hermione is such a unique name, have you really ever heard any other one like it?"

Natasha admitted that she hadn't.

"Look at it this way. Hermione was a greatly misunderstood character. In _A Winter's Tale, _she is accused by her husband of having an affair and he refuses to believe the news even when proof is shown to him and orders his wife to be thrown in prison, where she later dies. But before doing so, she gave birth to a little girl that reunites the kingdom of Sicilia and restores her to her father."

"It sounds somewhat depressing," Natasha commented as she finished what was on her plate. "A woman had to die, for all of that to happen."

"Ah, that's because you are not focusing on the larger picture," Ted said, putting his plate to one side and folding his hands. "Hermione made a sacrifice, she was a selfless and loyal character who stayed true to her husband to the end and never made excuses for the truth, regardless of whether or not he believed her. And in the end, she gave her child over to the care of another in the hopes that she would be safe. In my opinion, she was the ultimate mother."

This was all hitting a little bit too close to home for Natasha. She was about to become a mother herself, and the last thing she wanted to think about was whether or not she was willing to make sacrifices for her child, because the scary part was…..she didn't know.

She didn't know if she was willing or able to do that. It wasn't like she was in a conventional situation. She wasn't married and had gotten pregnant off of a one night stand with her partner who also happened to be a god and then had fled from her place of work in Russia to England where she was now hiding out in a middle class neighborhood under the guise of being a military wife waiting for her baby girl to be born.

She already knew way too much about sacrifices.

Ted suggested they take coffee and desert out on the patio in the back and Natasha agreed, eager to put the conversation behind her. She liked the Barlows, she really did. They were down to earth dependable people who she was sure she could trust if push came to shove and she needed someone to rely on.

That was, if she were normal. But the truth was, Natasha wasn't a regular human being at all, and the less she thought of herself as one, the better.

When the three of them were sitting on the back tiled patio on comfortable lawn furniture, mugs of hot coffee or tea in their hands, Amelia spoke up.

"You're awfully quiet Emma, are you alright?"

Natasha blinked. "Yes, I'm fine. I was just thinking about my husband, he's thousands of miles away right now and I wonder if he'll get back in time to see his daughter born."

This was of course complete bull. She was willing to bet her life on the fact that she would never see Thor again as if he was from a completely different planet. But she did wonder what he would think if he ever found out that he had a daughter.

He probably wouldn't believe it.

"I'm sure he will dear, after all witnessing the birth of a child is one of the most precious things to ever see. No one would want to miss that," Amelia said knowingly.

But Natasha wasn't so sure.

She enjoyed the company of the Barlows for the rest of the night and hurried back across the street at around ten. It wasn't a work day tomorrow, but she was suddenly feeling very tired.

As Natasha dressed and got into bed that night, she rested a hand tentatively on her stomach. The skin had grown hard and taut. It was also very warm, much more so then usual, but she didn't feel sick. It felt as if the baby was emitting a warmth and glow all its own and her feeding it and caring for it had nothing to do with it.

"I wonder what you'll look like," she whispered into the dark. I wonder if you'll have blonde or red hair, whether your eyes will be blue or green. Will you be tall or short? What will your laugh sound like? Will you be more like your father or me?"

That was a question that haunted her. Who would her child be more like? And what if she had abilities similar to her father? If she was put into foster care, no one would be able to understand her. No one but her mother.

Natasha sighed and closed her eyes. Every time she thought about the pregnancy situation, it always led back to what she would when the child was born, because she was running out of time. She had three months left to make a decision and then it was go time.

Would she give the child up for adoption and hightail it back to Russia, praying that her old job was still open to her, or would she stay here and try to be a single mother raising a child on her own? A child who would later grow up and ask whether or not they would ever see their father.

Was she really ready for all that?

To give up the fast life of being an international kick ass espionage agent that very few dared to mess with for the slowed down life of a single parent was something she never contemplated before and never thought that she would ever have to think about.

Natasha was still trying to wrap her head around the fact that she was pregnant after six months, how on earth would she get used to the fact that in just half that time, she would be a mother no matter if she decided to keep the child or not.

She sighed and threw back the blanket before getting to her feet and crossing the floor of the small room to the window where she pushed aside the curtains so she could look out.

Natasha glanced down at her stomach which was quite visibly round and rested her stomach on it gently.

"Whatever happens, whether or not we stay together or separate…I will make sure that you stay safe. I promise."

Ω

"What do you mean she's not here anymore?"

Thor had decided not to take his brother's advice and stay at Asgard. He just couldn't do it, the curiosity and the silence was eating him alive.

So it was to satisfy his own insatiable curiosity that he returned to Midgard under the guise of his pseudonym Einridi and found the Red Room again, high up in northern Russia.

Stefan leaned back in his chair and folded his hands in his lap. "I meant just what I said Agent Einridi. I sent Agent Romanov to downtown Moscow on a short three day scouting assignment and she never returned. That was six months ago. I had agents scouring the country, but after two months and nothing, it led me to conclude that she has left the country altogether or is in fact dead."

The blonde stiffened for a moment at the final words, but relaxed again when Stefan spoke for a second time. "I sincerely doubt it was the latter though. Romanov is one of my best agents, she wouldn't leave unless she had a very good reason. I have no doubt that she's out there somewhere."

Thor's mind was whirling. She couldn't be in danger, the device he had left would have alerted him if she were.

But if she weren't in danger then where was she?

Bidding Stefan farewell, he turned and left the office, thoughts already going top speed. Why would she have left? He didn't know the red head very well, but he thought he would have known her well enough to understand that she loved what she did and would not have left it voluntarily.

Something was wrong.

He had just gotten onto the elevator when the doors slid open again and a man rushed in. He was wearing a white lab coat and had salt and pepper hair which was somewhat frazzled. He looked as if he had just been running.

"Excuse me, but did I hear you say you are looking for Natasha Romanov?" he asked and Thor looked at the man, puzzled. He appeared normal and was holding a pile of folders in his arms. There was a pair of wire rimmed glasses hanging against his chest on a chain and the tag attached to his breast pocket read: Horatio Mendoza.

"Yes, I was her former partner from a few months ago, the last one she had I think before she disappeared."

The shorter man blinked. "Was this the trip to America to retrieve the super soldier serum?"

"It was." Then Thor frowned at the man. "How did you know, did she come to see you after?"

The man looked somewhat nervous. Thor got the feeling there was more to the story then what was being told.

"I should probably introduce myself. My name is Agent Einridi, I was Natasha's partner for that particular assignment and I haven't seen her since and was becoming worried."

He watched the man's face carefully and could practically see the beads of sweat gathering on the edges of his forehead.

All he had to do was apply the right amount of pressure and the man would crack like a walnut…

"Did you happen to see her before she left?" Thor asked and Horatio sighed. "Before I answer your questions Agent Einridi, I should ask you the extent of how well you knew Natasha Romanov."

It was a question with a double meaning and Thor knew it. Right then he knew that this man knew what had happened in Miami months ago.

"She told you didn't she?" he asked. Horatio reached over and switched off the power to the elevator. The bright yellow lights immediately cut to blue.

Horatio heaved a sigh. "I'm only going to relay this because if you are who I am sure you are, then you deserve to know." He took a breath and Thor waited impatiently.

"Natasha came to me about a month after she returned to America and told me that she had been feeling ill for the past few weeks. Normally given her immune system and the serums she is required to take, that shouldn't be possible. However to set her mind at ease, I did a scan of her body and did find something…very peculiar."

Thor was getting impatient. "Well….what was it?"

Horatio licked his lips. "This information would incredibly dangerous in the hands of the wrong person and it could very well put Natasha's life at risk."

Thor didn't say anything, he just stood there….waiting.

"Natasha Romanov wasn't sick…she was pregnant."

Ω

**And the game is on people. How long do you think it will be before Thor finds Natasha and learns he is the father of a beautiful baby girl? Tell me what you think :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Never in all of his centuries of existence had the god of lightning and storms ever been so stunned.

He stood there in the elevator gaping at the scientist for a few seconds before he remembered himself and managed to choke out: "I beg your pardon?"

"She was pregnant, and having an abortion wasn't an option for her, so she told me she was going to call her adoptive father who lives in England for help, and then disappeared. I haven't seen her in months."

"And…..and you're sure she was pregnant?" Thor asked again, sure he had heard the man incorrectly. Horatio nodded. Thor reached out and gripped the elevator railing remembering that he couldn't hold onto it as hard as he was because he was about to snap it in two. He let go and saw a large dent in the metal.

Horatio reached over and flicked on the power to the elevator again and they once more began moving. "She was," he replied. "And this was a child that had already achieved a significant amount of growth in a one month period when I learned she was with child. I can only conclude it is because of Natasha's advanced state of being."

_That and maybe the fact that I am a god, _Thor thought to himself, still in a state of shock. This couldn't be happening. Loki was right. Natasha was pregnant…..which would mean that he was a father.

He wondered absently if it would be a boy or girl.

When the elevator reached the bottom floor, he thanked the scientist before once more promising he would keep mum about the information, and then hightailed it out of the facility like a bat out of hell.

Questions and shock were still whirling around in his brain like clothes in a washing machine as he made his way out of the mountain valley to find a place where he could port back to Asgard. Thor needed to think.

Natasha was pregnant.

With his child.

How had this happened?

Loki would have taken it as a literal question and then begun to explain the workings of it to him, before Thor would have shut him up with a well-placed hit.

Thor didn't even remember porting back, he was so in shock. Thankfully Heimdall wasn't there so he would have to explain his blank expression to the gatekeeper as he came down the stairs and hurried along the rainbow bridge to the city.

The blonde ran a hair through his long hair. The reality was beginning to set in, that Natasha was pregnant and had fled with his child to a different part of Midgard to give birth in safety. What was he supposed to do about that?

Self-preservation would say forget the whole conversation with the scientist had happened and to put the event out of his mind. If he ignored it for long enough, then perhaps it wouldn't be true.

But reality was saying that was thoroughly ridiculous. He had never been one to shy away from responsibility. He was the crown prince after all. And his conscience and heart would never give him peace if he ignored something this large.

Another part of him was angry. He knew it was ridiculous, this was no one's fault, but why hadn't Natasha stayed so she could have told him all this herself? He would have gone back to Midgard eventually.

Logic shut the anger down after a second and reminded him that she would have been in danger the minute she found out she was pregnant. Working for an international agency that employed trained master assassins couldn't have a lot of job security and he imagined that Natasha had made a lot of enemies during her time there if Anton Konrad was any indication. She would be vulnerable for a while during the period that she carried the child.

He sat down hard in the training area where he sparred with Loki a few times a day and put his head in his hands.

This was insane.

What would Odin say if he were to find out?

But right now, his father's reaction was the least of his worries. A sense of urgency had replaced the shock and the anger.

He needed to find her.

The blonde got up and began to pace. He knew that she had received a call from her adoptive father in England which was most likely where she had gone. But he needed a way of finding her and for that he was going to need to let Loki in on what was going on, which would mean that more people would know and that there was more of a chance of it getting back to Odin.

This was a nightmare!

He got up and began to pace. Natasha was almost as strong as the women of Asgard, there was no way she wouldn't be able to defend herself. But the fact that she was pregnant would add an extra measure of vulnerability. She might harm herself or the child in the process. She had been gone almost six months which would mean that she was that much further along and would be quite obviously pregnant.

Which made finding her and making sure she was safe that much more imperative.

With that thought in mind, Thor strode from the training yard. He needed to see Loki and find Natasha and ensure that both she and his child were alright.

Ω

Meanwhile, far away in England, Natasha was unaware of what had just transpired and was relaxing in the backyard with Petunia. She had decided that she would try and invite the blonde over more often to get to know her better when her husband was away.

The walrus, as she fondly referred to Vernon in private, never returned until eight in the evening and Natasha usually finished work at around four so that left her a four hour window with Petunia.

Ever since she had moved in, Natasha had seen a noticeable change in the other woman. She smiled more and was often seen humming as she worked in the garden. It could be because of the fact that she was pregnant, or it could also be the company, but either way, Natasha wasn't complaining.

At the moment, the two women were sitting on the lawn furniture in the back sipping from glasses of lemonade. The sun was shining through the large lawn umbrella they were sitting under and everything was surprisingly calm.

Natasha had discovered a week into her stay at Privet Drive that there was a small garden in the back of the lawn by the fence. There was a bird fountain in it and every morning a pair of cardinals would come to nest. The sight brought a smile to her face. But she always wanted to laugh after because the notion that she, an international espionage agent would content watching two cardinals' drink from a bird bath would have been such an obtuse notion in the past.

Was she going soft?

No that was ridiculous, she was going to be a mother whether or not she decided to keep the little girl growing inside of her. It was only natural that her perspective on certain things would change.

Something that did concern her though was the emotional connection she would inevitably have with the child. This little girl would be a part of her. She might have her eyes, her smile, her facial and bone structure. She might laugh the same way and get angry about the same things. She have the same pet peeves and style of walking.

Natasha couldn't deny that. This would be her daughter, and regardless of whether or not she would keep her, she wouldn't be entirely herself anymore. A part of her would always belong to this little girl.

And that scared the holy hell out of her.

After she saw her parents and sister burned to death in front of her, Natasha had turned off the part of herself that could feel love, but this child would someone that would forcibly take it from her whether she wanted to give it or not.

But the frightening thing was, she could almost imagine what her baby girl would look like. Natasha had already imaged her to have strawberry blonde locks and aquamarine eyes. She would be a demigod and a witch so there were bound to be some things that were different about her from the other children.

And there she went again.

"Are you alright Emma?" Petunia asked as she took a sip from her lemonade. "You're awfully quiet."

Natasha nodded. "I was thinking about what will happen when the baby is due. I still don't know what to call her."

Petunia sat up fully on her lawn chair and got a thoughtful look on her face. "Well if she's anything like her mother, then she's going to be very beautiful."

Natasha gave her a soft smile at the compliment. She was no stranger to the admiring looks of men, but it was never something she cared about or valued. It just was.

But this was also Thor's daughter and the man had the looks of an Adonis. Natasha worried that her baby girl was going to receive a lot of unnecessary attention.

"And if she is going to be as beautiful as her mother, which I think she will be, then a beautiful name is in order. A name like Chloe or Allison just wouldn't do for someone like her."

"You seem like you have a lot of experience with this," Natasha observed. Petunia's cheeks turned a bit pink.

"Before I met Vernon, I love to write short stories. I was one of the editors for a publishing company, and picking out the names for the characters of different stories was one of my favorite parts. A name can define a person for the rest of life and what they do."

Natasha was impressed. Petunia was an intelligent woman who was following through on her passions. "So why did you stop?"

The smile on Petunia's face faltered. "Vernon is old school. He insisted that no wife of his should work."

Natasha was outraged. Over the past few months, along with the Barlow's, Petunia had become a good friend. She had gone out of her way to welcome Natasha to the neighborhood and she was a sweet and caring woman. It was 1980 for god's sake, women were part of the working force.

Her dislike of the walrus multiplied again.

"You know you don't have to live like this Petunia," Natasha said softly. "You don't need to let him have such power over you."

The blonde uttered a choked laugh. "And where would I go if I left him Emma? The little boy I'm carrying would be his son too. And Vernon is like a pit bull when he's after something. If I leave, and he wants to find me, then he will. His sister is close friends with the people in the district attorney's office. If he wanted to take our son from me, there's no way I could stop him."

_I need to talk to Ivan about options for Petunia, _Natasha thought as she watched the other woman. _No one should have to live in fear of their husband in their own home. She should be doing what she loves and raising her son away from that walrus. Maybe Ivan can help me about moving her to a different place. He's more powerful than the district attorney. There's no way that Vernon would be able to find her if Ivan relocated her. After all, that's what he did for me and I haven't heard from Russia in months._

She didn't know it now, but she wouldn't be carrying that sentiment for long.

Ω

Unbeknownst to both Natasha and Thor, there was someone else who was seeking the beautiful espionage agent.

Stefan had been furious about her disappearance. She was one of his best agents and for the first few months he truly believed that she had been abducted. But when a thorough search of the country had turned up nothing, he had been forced to look into other options.

Was it possible that she had fled the country?

At first, the head of the Red Room didn't want to admit it, but the more he thought about it, Natasha was a master of deception. She was also high up in the chain of command and knew many secrets about the agency. Secrets that could shut them down for good, and if they were leaked to the rest of the world, it could lose them the war.

She had turned into a wild card, and that was something that Stefan couldn't afford. He knew for whatever reason she had left, that she wouldn't be returning willingly. And that only left a few options.

They needed to find her, and if finding her meant taking her out for good….then so be it.

Ω

As one might imagine, Loki took the news that he was going to be an uncle with shock and no shortage of smart remarks. But when Thor told him that Natasha had disappeared from Russia completely, he sobered up.

"Human pregnancies usually take about nine months to bring to completion," Loki mused.

They were walking among the grounds of the palace of Asgard. Thor was too antsy to pick up a sword and train. He had been pacing for the past hour trying to think of what he would say to Natasha when he saw her again.

For the most part, he was still adjusting to the fact that she was carrying his child. That alone was enough to cause his brain to spark and sputter.

"But you've already determined that six months has passed since you have last seen her, and because this is a child that is part god, it is highly likely that she will have an increased term," Loki continued. But Thor had stopped listening.

"You mean it's possible that she could have the child any day now?" He whirled around. "I should be in Midgard looking for her right now."

Loki reached out and seized his brother's arm. "Would you cease and desist? We have not determined where she is yet and it would not do for you to be running all over Midgard acting like the demented berserker that you are sometimes."

"Fine, then what oh all-knowing brother of mine, do you propose is the best course of action?" Thor asked exasperatedly.

Loki nodded approvingly as if he hadn't heard the annoyance in the blonde's voice. "That's better. Now you said she had left Russia six months ago after she received a communication from her adoptive father in England?"

"That's what the scientist imparted to me, yes." Thor was getting a little impatient. This was old information. What would happen if something happened to Natasha down on Midgard? He knew she was more than capable of defending herself, but again, she was also carrying a child which increased the likelihood of harm.

He gave a strangled groan and sat down hard on one of the benches in the courtyard they had stopped in. It was a small garden filled with fragrant flowers and usually exuded an atmosphere of serenity.

But right now, Thor was feeling anything but peaceful. He reached inside the collar of his tunic and pulled out the amber pendent he had given the duplicate of to Natasha. Ever since he had entered his chamber that one night and found it glowing he hadn't taken it off, convinced that it meant something.

And now he knew what it was.

Loki continued talking, but the blonde was no longer listening. He was wondering just where in England Natasha would have gone off to. She would not doubt want anonymity for her and the child as well as complete privacy for the birth. So it would have to be somewhere quiet where no one would expect her to go.

His brother snapped his fingers and jerked Thor out of the stupor he was in. "I think I've found the way to locate her."

"Can we do it in a timely fashion?" Thor as looking up. Loki rolled his eyes. "What do you take me for? Of course we can. Just bring the pendant and follow me."

Ω

Natasha shot awake at the sudden pain in her stomach. After a second though, it died and her tense muscles relaxed. A moment later though, it happened again and she put her hand on her stomach all of a sudden worried that she might be going into labor. But a sudden force knocked against her hand and she glanced down at her stomach in surprise.

The baby was kicking. Out of the blue, she smiled. The baby was only seven months along and she was already pretty strong.

Deciding that she wasn't going to get any sleep for the next little while, Natasha headed downstairs to make herself a glass of tea. She turned on the kitchen light and headed for the cupboards to take out the kettle. She hadn't been much of an avid tea drinker when she was staying with the Red Room, her advanced metabolism and immune system had been enough to keep her from getting tired for long periods of time but she found after coming to England that she rather liked it.

However, Natasha had no sooner poured the tea into a mug when there was a knock on the door….actually it was more like a pounding.

Natasha glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was just after two in the morning. Who could possibly be pounding on her door at this hour?

Cautiously, Natasha crept to the front door and peered through the peep hole. A moment later her eyes widened and she through back to the two latches and three deadbolts that Ivan had put on the door and turned the lock before opening it to reveal a very frazzled Petunia in a pale blue silk bathrobe and house slippers. Her blonde curls were a mess and her face was red. She was breathing hard and her blue eyes looked even more watery than usual. She had one hand on her swelling stomach and the other was leaning against the door frame.

"Petunia, are you alright?" Natasha asked opening the door. _Stupid question Romanov, of course she's not alright. _"Never mind, come in and sit down."

The blonde nodded and hurried into the house. Natasha shut the door behind her and followed the other woman to the kitchen where she collapsed into one of the chairs. Not asking any questions, Natasha put another cup of tea on to boil and waited until it was done before she placed it in front of Petunia and sat down across from her.

"Petunia, what's going on?" Natasha asked gently.

The other woman took a few sips of tea and swallowed hard twice before opening her mouth. "Vernon came home very late. He didn't seem to be in a good mood, so when that happens, I simply serve him dinner and stay out of his way. He went out again and I went to bed soon after, but I woke up about twenty minutes ago and heard the sound of breaking glass. I went downstairs and found he had completely trashed the kitchen. He was muttering something about bills. When I tried to stop him and get him to come to bed, it only made him angrier. I could smell the alcohol on his breath and I knew he was drunk. It was then that he got violent. He swung at me, but I managed to duck out of the way and as I scrambled to get out of the kitchen, I fell and cut my wrist."

Her voice wobbled as she held up her bleeding arm for Natasha to see. The red head was burning with rage.

"I was lucky I landed on my side closer to my back so I didn't hurt the baby," Petunia whispered rubbing her stomach. I was close to the ground anyway. And then I ran out the door and came here."

By this point, she was crying and Natasha was horrified. She'd known Vernon was a monster from the moment she laid eyes on him. He was a drunkard and no doubt a cheater as well. She was beginning to hate the man with a passion.

"Let me see about that cut on your arm, and then I think it would be a good idea for you to go to the hospital," she said calmly.

"Oh please no! Don't do that Emma, it'll just make things worse. Vernon will be madder than ever. Can I just stay the night with you and then go back in morning?" Petunia begged tearfully.

Natasha sighed and closed her eyes. The last thing she wanted to do was let that pig off the hook for attempting to harm his wife, but she didn't want to make things worse for Petunia also. There was her little boy to think about.

"It's against my better judgement," Natasha said slowly. "But let's look at your arm. You can stay in the guest room tonight. But if something like this happens again, I'm calling the police and then the hospital."

Petunia sighed in relief and Natasha hurried upstairs to get the first aid kit. In the back of her mind, she was mentally putting her fist through the wall. Men like that shouldn't be allowed to exist. She would have destroyed people like that back when she was in the Red Room.

As she collected the kit from the bathroom, Natasha realized that was one of the aspects that she liked most about her job. Sure she killed people for a living, but they were the ones that made her people targets. She stole international secrets and protected diplomats, but it was all for the protection of her country. That was why she liked doing what she did. Not the killing part, but the nationalistic part.

She helped make the world a safer place. There weren't many jobs that played such a direct role in doing that. That was the reason that she missed it.

Meanwhile downstairs, Petunia stared at the table not really seeing it. Her eyes had filled with tears and her shoulders were shaking silently. She knew that Emma was right. She needed to do something about Vernon. She had a baby on the way, and there was no way her son should be allowed to be subjected to such violent outbursts.

But what was she supposed to do? She had no money set aside for a convenient exit, she didn't have a job or any close friends in the area to help her. There was Emma, but that was still too close to Vernon. Her parents were dead, she had no idea where her sister was and she knew that Vernon's sister would fight tooth and nail to take Dudley away from her.

If she did leave Vernon, then she would have to be absolutely sure that she would be able to do it completely and that he and Marge wouldn't be able to find her.

_Now dry your eyes Petunia, _she told herself sternly. _Be thankful that you have a safe place to sleep tonight. And you need to think seriously about leaving him. If not for your sake but for your baby's. _

Ω

Petunia spent the night with Natasha, but the latter didn't get much sleep. She was thinking carefully on her friend's problem. Thankfully the cut on Petunia's arm hadn't required any stitches so they didn't need to go to the hospital after all. Natasha was more worried about what could have happened. Petunia might have landed on her stomach and seriously injured the baby, or worse, Vernon might have actually hit her there in the drunken stupor he was in.

She growled as she paced the room. That man was a menace and he needed to be taken care of. Maybe she could pull a few strings with Ivan and make him disappear for good.

Then she put out a mental foot and tripped that thought. She was going to be a mother soon, that wasn't something she should be thinking of.

But something did need to be done about that walrus…and soon.

The following morning, Natasha went back with Petunia to Number 4 Privet Drive to see what the damages were. Thankfully, Vernon wasn't home. The car was gone and so was his brief case so that meant he must have sobered up some time in the night enough to go to work.

_Good riddance, _Natasha thought as she observed the mess in the kitchen. There was glass everywhere and some of the cupboard doors were hanging half off their hinges. Some of the fruit in the fruit bowl on top of the counter had spilled onto the floor, the chairs were over turned and the pictures were hanging haphazardly off their nails. The counter was also littered with empty beer bottles.

"What a mass," Natasha observed under her breath. Petunia came down the stairs. "Nothing seems to have been touched up here. It's just the kitchen and the dining room."

"I can see that," Natasha said as she looked around. Then she glanced up at her friend. "Petunia are you sure that you want to stay here tonight? Vernon might not have slept it all off yet."

"Thanks Emma, but I'll be okay. I know where to go if there's trouble and if Vernon ever tries something like that again, then I'll call the police."

Natasha nodded. "Good."

She stayed for the next few hours and helped Petunia clean up at the house. She even stayed while Petunia fixed dinner for Vernon, even though she felt it was incredibly wrong sitting there. Petunia was such a sweet woman, she didn't deserve to be treated like this. In fact, she had a baby on the way. It was imperative that she protect herself and this child. If Vernon didn't change-"

"Thank you for staying to help me clean up Emma," Petunia said breaking into her thoughts. She looked better and the cut on her arm didn't look so angry anymore.

Bracing herself on the back of the chair and one hand on her stomach, Natasha stood up. She at least didn't want to be here when Vernon returned. "You're welcome, but if he ever tries something like this again, you don't wait, you just get out of the house and you come find me. This could have turned out a lot worse."

Petunia looked sad but nodded. Natasha told her goodbye and let herself out. Instead of going back to the house however, she decided she would go for a walk.

Not surprisingly, her feet led her back to the park she had visited on her first day in Surrey. She sat down on the swings and slowly rocked herself back and forth.

She needed to check in with Ivan. He called her every week to see how she was doing and whether or not she needed any help around the house.

Natasha always said no but it did mean a lot to her that he asked. She knew that Ivan had her back and that was a good feeling.

As she swung, she glanced down at her stomach and tentatively placed a hand on the taut surface. It was warm and she could almost feel the little hands pushing back at her from the other side.

"You're going to be the death of me little one," She whispered. "What am I going to do with you? Every day you're with me it's like you steal little pieces of my heart. You deserve so much better then what I can offer you. But I'm not sure I can give you up anymore."

It was true. Something had changed. Maybe it was Petunia protecting herself from Vernon and getting out of that house before her baby was harmed, but Natasha realized she had done the same thing. She had left the Red Room for the sake of her baby girl. At the time she believed it was because she was protecting herself and while that may have been partially true, she knew they would have killed her little girl if she stayed.

Maybe that little bit of selflessness was putting her on the right path to becoming a mother.

_You've already sacrificed for this little girl, how much harder could it be?_

The one thing that Natasha did know about being a mother was sacrifice, and her parents sacrificed a lot by saying no to Grindelwald. If she knew that sacrifice was the first thing to being a parent, could she learn the rest of the stuff on the way?

It was a question that she still had time to figure out. And Natasha felt surprisingly light hearted for the first time in months as she walked back to the house.

Ω

Over the next few weeks, Natasha found herself spending a surprising amount of time with Petunia and the Barlows. The Garrett's knew she was going to be due in around six weeks and had decided to give her the time off early.

She was a little relieved to hear it as the kicking in her stomach had gotten stronger and she was a little more tired than before.

Seeing her condition, Amelia Barlow had come over almost every day to ensure she had everything she needed.

"Amy I really appreciate this," Natasha said one afternoon as she sat on the couch with her feet up. "But before I got pregnant, I was always an extremely active person. There's only so much pampering I can handle."

Amelia who had been in the process of making a pot of tea whilst sweeping the floor looked up at her and laughed. "Honey, your husband is overseas fighting a war while you're here all alone and pregnant and only several weeks away from having your baby. The more I can do to make you comfortable, the better."

When the older woman wasn't looking Natasha rolled her eyes good naturedly. She knew nothing she was going to say would convince the other woman not to continue mothering her. But it was actually sort of nice. She had been taking care of herself for a long time so it was nice to have someone else do it for a change.

Petunia seemed to be better as well. She'd had a few scares where she had been rushed to the hospital, but they had all been false alarms. She complained to Natasha that if this baby didn't come soon, she was going to explode.

Vernon seemed to have quieted down since the incident a few weeks ago with Petunia coming to Natasha's door in the middle of the night. And for that both of the women were grateful. Petunia seemed convinced that he was turning over a new leaf, but Natasha wasn't so sure. She had seen men like him before and while she believed enough in the capacity for change, she also didn't believe that men like him actually would. He loved his alcohol and terrorizing his wife far too much to let it go.

Later that afternoon, Amelia went home and Natasha wandered out to the backyard to look at the roses she had planted around the bird fountain in the back garden. It was such a domestic chore that she wanted to laugh. If someone had told her a year ago this time that she would be pregnant by a god and planting roses in her backyard garden, she probably would have turned them over to the Red Room for questioning on seeing into the future, as that was a talent that would have been put to great use.

But now as she stood in her back garden, she knew that nothing could have prepared her for any of this

It was just too bizarre. She was due in around six weeks and was actually starting adjust to life as a domestic.

Well…..partially.

She had talked Ivan into helping her turn the basement into a course similar to the facility they had in the Red Room, obstacle courses weight training and all. He had grumbled about why she needed this and she told him it was to stay in shape during her pregnancy. He had asked her a few times about what she was going to do once the baby was born, but she had always been evasive.

The truth was that the notion to keep the baby was growing stronger in her mind. She did love what she did, but maybe there was a way to do both. She didn't necessarily have to go back to the Red Room. The British Secret Service was almost as intensive and action filled. Perhaps she could find work there.

But if things didn't turn out the way she thought they would, Natasha had made up her mind that she would want the Barlows to take care of her baby. They were well off financially, the child would be well cared for, and Amelia had always wanted children. The thought of giving her little girl up made Natasha sad, but the Barlows would be a far better option than an adoption agency. Having a plan made her feel a little bit better.

After her last checkup with Dr. Radcliffe, he had cautioned her to not overdo it too much with the exercise as she was only a few weeks away from delivery. Natasha had moaned that she felt like a whale when she had gone to see him, but he had just laughed and said that's how all of his female patients felt around this time.

A sudden ringing of the phone jerked her out of her thoughts. Natasha hurried back into the house and snatched the phone off its hook on the wall.

"Hello?"

It was a breathless Petunia that answered. "Emma? Oh good you picked up. Listen I've just gone into labor and I'm at the hospital."

Natasha blinked. "I didn't hear the ambulance go by, do you need me to come?"

"No, no. Don't worry, I took a cab. I had a strange feeling that today was the day it would happen, and the labor pains started as soon as I parked. I already called Vernon and he's on his way. I just wanted to ask if you could keep an eye on the house. Some of the plants in the back need watering."

"I'd be happy to," Natasha responded. "You take care of yourself."

"I will."

The women rang off and Natasha hung the phone back up before she sighed and glanced down at her stomach. "Now if you wouldn't mind hurrying along little one that would make me quite happy as well."

The next few weeks passed in quick succession. Natasha continued to spend time with the Barlows and she and Amelia grew closer. It was odd to have other females to rely upon. She hadn't really made any other friends in the Red Room, they were just partners and a means to an end. But once the red head slowed down and actually tried to view conversation as less than interrogation and more about communication, she found that she rather liked it.

_I'm losing my mind, _she thought.

It wasn't until late in the evening that things began to become worrisome. Natasha had just turned in for the night and was in a surprisingly deep sleep when the sound of breaking glass and screaming and sirens yanked her from her bed as if someone had dumped ice water on her.

She flew to the window and looked out across the street before gasping in horror and flying down the stairs.

The Barlow's house was on fire. It was completely engulfed in red flames and was going up like kindling. Natasha threw on a coat and ran from the house.

"Ma'am, you're going to need to stay behind the yellow tape," one of the firefighters told her and she took a step back.

_How did this happen? _She thought as she watched in shock. Natasha glanced around for Amelia and Ted but her eyes widened in anxiety when she didn't see them.

They hadn't been in the house had they?

"Emma!"

Natasha turned at the familiar voice and saw Petunia hustling toward her. She was carrying Dudley in her arms and the little boy was fat asleep. Petunia's hair was in curlers and she had a housecoat tied haphazardly around her. She slid to a stop in front of her neighbor. "What's going on is everyone all right?"

"I don't know." Natasha glanced worriedly at the Barlows house and then her heart dropped when an ambulance pulled up flashing sirens. A path was cleared and two stretchers appeared out of nowhere bearing two bodies.

Natasha immediately recognized the wedding rings and felt sick. This couldn't be happening, not to the Barlows. They were genuinely good people who had kept an eye out for her since she had arrived in Surrey a few months ago.

She hoped they would be alright and get to the hospital in time.

Ω

They weren't alright.

Natasha found out the next morning that the Barlows had died on the way to the hospital from smoke inhalation. A fire fighter who had been about to leave the next morning after casing the place had informed her that for some reason, the Barlows hadn't woken when the fire alarms went off do to suspicious circumstances.

Natasha was sure they had been drugged and she was madder than ever. Grief was still something that was fairly new to her, and while she didn't shed any tears, she was quieter than she had been before all day.

Petunia had come over with Dudley to make sure that she was alright, and Natasha had actually worked up enough nerve to hold him. It had been surprisingly easy.

But when they had gone home, Natasha stole across the street to what was left of the Barlows house.

There wasn't much. The red tape was still there and Natasha had to keep out of sight as there were still a few policemen around, but even though she was pregnant, she still had more than enough practice in not being seen.

After coming around from the side, Natasha slipped into the house and put her hand over her mouth. This was bringing back some uncomfortable memories. After the fire in her parents' home it had just been a burned out shell. Just like the Barlows house. The structure was still standing but everything inside had been horribly burned.

Natasha wandered into the study. Ted had showed her that this was where he did all of his work. The area was littered with charred books. The chair and desk were half burnt and the previously white paint was peeling, the paintings had fallen off the wall and were partially melted and the beautiful mahogany bookcase that Ted had been so proud of because it was an antique was broken, books strewn across the floor and burned.

Natasha felt a burning in the back of her eyes that could only be tears, but she blinked hard and after a moment, the feeling went away.

She glanced down when a shuffling near her feet had caught her attention. The front window on the house had blown out and a breeze was blowing through the house turning the pages of some of the books that still had pages.

The book lying near her feet was, ironically, _A Winter's Tale. _She smiled sadly, it had been Ted's favorite play and the only thing other than classic cars that he could talk for hours about. She reached down and picked it up, flipping through some of the worn dog eared pages. Ted had told her on a number of occasions that his favorite character in that particular play had been Hermione as she was all about sacrifice.

Ironic now that Ted was dead too.

She glanced down at the book and saw that almost all the lines where Hermione was speaking were highlighted and gave a sad smile. That was so like Ted.

Natasha closed the book and tucked it under her arm deciding that this was something that she would keep in memory of Ted. He deserved it after all. They had never been as close as she was with Ivan, but she knew that if she went back to the Red Room after the baby was born, they would be people that she would miss.

Sadly, she turned and made her way out of the house. As Natasha was about to step over the threshold however to leave, there was a clinking sound at her feet. She frowned and glanced down.

Something metallic was leaning against the door frame and when she picked it up, Natasha felt her eyes widen.

It was the Red Room medallion. A braided half circle with a star above it. For a moment Natasha's mind sun and then her lightning fast brain made the correlation and she growled deep in her throat. She shoved the medallion into her pocket.

This had been no random attack.

Stefan was looking for her.

And Amelia and Ted were the casualties.

Natasha slipped out of the house and only when she was behind the door of her own, did she show her anger. She slapped down the medallion on the table and stared at it in rage.

She should have known it wouldn't be this easy. Natasha had been pretty high up on the chain of command back in Russia. She knew a lot of secrets that would spell disaster if they were leaked to the international community.

That was the only reason that Stefan was after her. He was too smart to know that she couldn't be dead, but how he had found out she would be in England was something that was concerning. There was only one person that would have known where she would be going besides Ivan and that was-

"Horatio," she whispered.

He had said he was going to transfer but they might have tracked him down since he was the last person to see her. She knew he wouldn't have told them what they wanted to know willingly. So they had either threatened or tortured him.

Natasha sat down at the kitchen table suddenly feeling sick. _You know all those serums that they gave me to put my body into a higher plane then other humans didn't prepare me for any of this. Maybe they should have just removed my uterus instead. _

Ω

After a few phone calls to Ivan and a few more weeks went by, Natasha was beginning to feel like a caged animal. Ivan hadn't been able to tell her anything about the ongoing investigation into the deaths of Amelia and Ted and it was driving the red head crazy.

And not only that, she felt as if she were getting so big she should apply for statehood. It was maddening.

"I feel like I'm going to pregnant forever," she groaned out loud in the kitchen. Petunia had been over earlier with Dudley. He was an adorable little boy with a tuft of angel blonde hair on his forehead and the same clear blue eyes as his mother. He was a bit pudgy but it would wear off as he got older. He was surprisingly quiet for a baby and Natasha could tell that Petunia was glad of this.

He seemed to have inherited only the qualities from his mother which must have been infinitely relieving for Petunia given that her husband was a foghorn blaring walrus with bad taste in suits and beverages.

She hoped as the years went by that he grew up exactly as quiet and polite as his mother was. And her own child? Well her little girl would kick ass and independent just like her mother/

Natasha smirked as she glanced down at her stomach. "Now you listen to me little girl. You're gonna be independent just like me. You're not going to wait around for anybody unless they put in the work to get to know you, especially if it's a male. You're going to be very intelligent so make sure you study thoroughly. And you're also going to take your healthcare and exercise seriously as well."

_You're talking as if you're really going to keep this little girl Tasha. Is this really and truly what you want?_

But the more Natasha thought about it, she knew that there weren't many options left to her. The Barlows had been her best option for adoption and they were dead. She ground her teeth together as she thought about it. Stefan had ordered a direct hit on a populated suburb because he must have thought she lived in that house.

And she refused to put her baby into a home where she might be abused. It was also becoming painfully obvious that her former place of work wouldn't be so eager to welcome her back as they were trying to kill her.

That really only left one other option for her.

Natasha glanced down at her stomach and tentatively rubbed it. "I'm open to seeing how this works of you are little girl," she said softly. "God knows I'm never going to see your father again, and you'll need one steady parent in your life. Would that be okay with you?"

The baby responded promptly by kicking.

Natasha laughed and decided to lay down on the couch for a moment, she was suddenly feeling a little tired.

Ω

A sudden sharp pain jerked her awake again. Natasha shot up and grimaced when she felt the shocks. That could only mean one thing.

She glanced down at her stomach and smiled grimly. "Alright little girl, its go time. Let's do this." She got up off the couch and hurried as fast as she could to get the bag she had packed from the hall closet and her coat before snatching the keys and hurrying to the rental car that Ivan had made sure to give her.

Now normally driving a car when you're in the beginning stages of labor wasn't really a good idea. But then again, Natasha wasn't really human either. She had once had to drive an armored jeep with her feet into a hostile situation to rescue some of their own because both of her hands were broken. So driving while in the beginning stages of labor really didn't seem like that big of a deal. Plus her pain tolerance was exceedingly high.

After about fifteen minutes of driving though, Natasha had a permanent grimace on her face and she was taking deep breaths to try and stave off the pain.

Thankfully it didn't take her that long and as soon as she was in the doors of the hospital, one of the nurses put her on a gurney and wheeled her away to the maternity ward. Dr. Radcliffe was called and things seemed to go pretty smoothly after that.

"You're sure you're not in any pain?" Dr. Radcliffe asked when they had settled Natasha in one of the rooms. She gave him a small smile.

"Dr. I used to be in the army before I was discharged because of the pregnancy, I have a very high pain tolerance."

It was partially true. The pain of labor was a different sort of pain however. It wasn't like she had broken a bone or something. The pain seemed to be more spread out. However, Natasha decided to handle the way she always did something uncomfortable.

Grit her teeth and breathe deeply.

Dr. Radcliffe blinked and then grinned. "I must say, you're the calmest patient I've ever had before. Now your contractions are still pretty far apart. I want to wait for them to get a little closer before I induce labor. You're still a few weeks early."

Natasha nodded and waited until he had left the room before she let out a sigh of relief and sank back on the pillows. She was a little glad that it would take some time before she would go into labor completely so she would have some time to think.

It seemed pretty obvious what she was going to do, but she still was having a hard time processing it. She was going to keep the baby, and she was pretty sure of the name she had decided on.

She had told Ivan of her decision to keep the baby and he had been surprisingly supportive. She had also told him that she hated working behind a desk and he had agreed to get her into the Covert Operations Division of the British Secret Service as soon as her baby was old enough.

_Things are falling into place, _Natasha thought in satisfaction. A sudden contraction made her grimace and hiss in pain.

Well they would be as soon as she got this baby out of her.

Ω

It was early afternoon and Petunia had just put Dudley down for his nap. About a half an hour ago, Emma had called to tell her she had gone into labor and was at the hospital.

The blonde ran a hand through her hair. She had been a little worried because the baby was still a few weeks early, and she hoped that there wouldn't be any problems.

_I should probably keep an eye on her house like she did for mine, _Petunia thought to herself.

Just then there was a knock on the door and Petunia frowned. Who could that be? Vernon wasn't due home for another couple hours.

Slowly she walked to the door and cautiously pulled it open. And her jaw dropped in complete shock.

Standing on her doorstep was the most breathtaking man she had ever seen. That would be the only accurate way to describe him. He was simply breathtaking. He had eyes the color of sapphires and thick long blonde hair that was neatly tied back. He was wearing dark jeans a pale blue short sleeved shirt and black Oxfords, but he was the kind of person who could be wearing a sack and he still would have looked incredible. He had this aura about him that rippled with power, but he wasn't pretty like one of the models she would see in a magazine ad. There was a sprinkling of pale stubble along his cheeks and chin and he would have stood at least a head taller than Vernon. He was well muscled but not unbearably so and he had the kind of body that would make most women faint.

Which was exactly what Petunia was trying very hard not to do right now.

He opened his mouth and asked her something, but she had to blink twice before she registered any of it.

"I'm sorry, can you say that again?" she asked and cursed her voice when she sounded a little frazzled.

"My apologies. I was enquiring as to the whereabouts of your neighbor. I knocked on her door, but she doesn't seem to be answering."

_Good god, even his voice is magnificent._

"You're looking for Emma? Oh I just spoke to her a half hour ago, she went into labor early and is at the hospital right now, I'm keeping an eye on her house for her."

At her words, the relaxed look on the man's face evaporated and was replaced by one of tense urgency.

"Would you please tell me which hospital she is at? It's imperative that I get there as soon as possible," he said.

Petunia told him which one it was and then stammered out the directions of how to get there. It was like her brain wasn't functioning at its normal capacity. He thanked her and turned to go, but stopped when she called out after him.

"Wait, you're Emma's husband?"

He turned and kind of smiled, but it came out more like a smirk. "In a manner of speaking." Then he was gone. Petunia blinked, she hadn't even seen him disappear, and it was like he had just vanished. How on earth had he done that?

As she shut the door and leaned against it, Petunia thought: _Good Lord Emma, where did you find him and are there more where he came from?_

Ω

Natasha leaned back against the pillows as another contraction ceased. _I swear to god, I am never having another kid, _she thought to herself.

Dr. Radcliffe had just hurried out to see about another patient and Natasha vowed she was going to relax until the next contraction came.

She breathed out a sigh and laid a hand on her stomach. "There are still some things that you and I need to clear up little one."

"Yes, there are, but I think that a third party needs to be present for that."

Natasha jerked at the interjection and at the sound of the familiar deep velvety voice. It wasn't possible.

She turned her head toward the door, and there he stood big as life. He was wearing simple clothes such as he had worn nearly nine months ago and his heir was tied back to keep it out of his eyes. It didn't make him look any less good however. In fact human clothes seemed to suit him. There was an aura of command around him and Natasha knew immediately that it wouldn't have taken much convincing to let him in here. His deep blue eyes were watching her carefully and he seemed somewhat serious.

"Hello Natasha," Thor said calmly. "It's been a while."

_Son of a bitch._

Ω

**MWUAHAHAHAHA! I just looooove cliff-hangers. But on another note...yay Thor has found Natasha just in time for the birth of their daughter! I just knew that he had to be there in the hospital. Don't worry, more exciting stuff to come. Don't forget to review!**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

For a moment Natasha just stared. "What…..how did you…?"

Thor folded his hands together and stepped closer to the hospital bed, eyes never leaving hers. He had pulled the sheet around the bed to give them some privacy from the open door.

"I'm a god Natasha, there aren't very many things that I can't do," he said, a smirk playing up his handsome features. Natasha had just enough snark left in her to roll her eyes.

"What I want to know is how the hell did you find out?" she asked. Thor raised one eyebrow. "Aside from your adoptive father, there was only one other person who knew, and he only told me, because he guessed at my identity and my relation to this child."

Natasha sighed and sank back onto the pillows of her hospital bed. "Ratio promised he wouldn't tell anyone," she ground out.

"But I'm not really just anyone am I?"

Natasha licked her lips and didn't reply. She had nothing to apologize for, she had left Russia because she and her baby girl might have been harmed otherwise and she had been sure that she would never see him again.

"No," she said finally, "you're not. She's going to be your daughter too."

Thor's blue eyes widened. "It's going to be a girl?" He looked so surprised and delighted that Natasha couldn't help but smirk.

"Yes, it's a girl. I found out about three months ago. In fact, I think I've already selected a name," she said actually feeling somewhat pleased with herself.

"May I ask what it is?" Thor asked and Natasha realized that they were both being a bit too polite. They had gotten along decently well in the past so for it become awkward now really wasn't necessary.

Unless of course one factored in that that she was in a hospital about to deliver their child.

Natasha glanced down at her stomach and patted it gently. "Some of the people I met here provided me with some inspiration. I think I want to call this little girl Hermione."

Thor frowned. "An interesting name I must admit. But it is one that would be welcomed in Asgard."

There was a chair sitting next to the bed so he pulled it closer and sat down before resting his elbows on his knees and leaning forward. "I understand why I wasn't told. Although I must admit it was more than a shock."

"I can understand that," Natasha said. She did empathize. They had spent one crazy night together awhile so learning that they were about to be a mother and father from that event was more than a little obtuse.

"But that now leaves the undeniable question of where the path takes us from here," Thor said. Natasha grimaced, and it wasn't from a contraction. She knew this would have to happen sooner or later, she just didn't think that he would be here to see it.

"I'll be honest, I was sure I was never going to see you again so my plans in Hermione's life didn't include you," Natasha said simply. "There was a couple that I had grown close with who lived across the street from my rental house. I would have left Hermione with them as they had always wanted children but then they were killed by my former place of employment."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "Stefan has turned on one of his own," he mused, and it wasn't a question. "Although that is something that I wouldn't put past him."

"There are too many things that I know," Natasha said calmly. "I have been under the thumb of the Red Room since I was fifteen years old. They aren't likely to let me go alive. And they aren't above using other means to get to me."

Their eyes both glanced down at her stomach. Thor suddenly got an odd look on his face. "May I?" he asked.

Before she could respond to his question, he reached out and laid an almost timid hand on her stomach. Instantly Natasha felt the warmth that had been pooling there spread to the rest of her body as well. She glanced up at the blonde and was surprised to see that his face looked surprisingly content. A soft humming suddenly filled the room and Natasha looked around in surprise.

"She's going to be powerful," Thor said softly. "But I will not know by how much until she reaches the age of full maturity."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "I just want to focus on making sure that she's healthy before we get to godly powers." Just then a sudden shock of pain spiked through her abdomen and she hissed out loudly through her teeth. Thor seized her hand. "What's wrong?"

All of a sudden the door opened and Dr. Radcliffe hurried back in. He paused for a second on seeing Thor but then blinked and hurried to the other side of Natasha's bed.

"Mrs. Granger, your contractions are significantly close enough that we can induce labor," he said and then turned to the tall blonde. "Mr. Granger, if you would stand over here?"

Thor did as he asked and moved over to Natasha's left side. All of a sudden Natasha hissed out in pain again and then the room was flooded with doctors. Natasha glanced over at Thor and would have laughed at the expression on his face if she hadn't been in so much pain. He looked so confused and unsure of himself.

"I must confess I have absolutely no notion of what I'm doing," he said.

"Don't worry sir," said one of the doctors who was standing next to him. "Most first time fathers are like that."

After that everything seemed to pass in a blur. Natasha would later grumble that she had never felt so undignified in her life, but there was nothing really dignified about bearing a child.

She was conscious that Thor held her hand the whole time and that she squeezed it tighter as the contractions became more painful. And then suddenly, one last push and it was over. A soft mewing sound filled the delivery room and a look of wonder filled Thor's face.

Dr. Radcliffe removed his mask and wiped the baby off before turning to Natasha with a big smile on his face and handing the baby over.

It was as if there were only three people in the room after that. Natasha gazed down at the bundle in her arms and felt an odd tug on her chest. The baby girl…..Hermione…..had small little tufts of strawberry blonde curls all over her head. She opened her eyes and both of her parents gave sharp intakes of breath when they saw that she had large aquamarine colored eyes. Her skin was perfect and when she saw the two of them her mouth opened in a silent baby laugh.

Thor reached out a hand and Hermione seized one of his fingers and appeared to be trying to squeeze it with all of her might.

"She's beautiful," Natasha whispered and now looking at this little girl, she knew she never would have been able to give her up anyway.

"She is," Thor replied equally as softly. "Just like her mother."

Natasha turned to him, one eyebrow raised, mouth twisted into a half smirk. "Now no more of that, plain conversation is how we got here in the first place."

Ω

A few hours later, Thor managed to convince Natasha to relinquish her hold on Hermione and try and get some rest. He knew that first time mothers were more protective than usual, but Natasha's advanced state of being had already completely healed her damaged tissues and strained muscles. She could have gone home an hour after she had given birth.

Thor had managed to persuade her that perhaps some sleep might not be a bad thing. She was just as fiery as he remembered and he was sure that if he hadn't been Hermione's father, she never would have let go.

Currently, he was standing by the window of the hospital room looking out. Hermione was nestled in his arms but she wasn't asleep. Natasha was asleep however and the two of them were being very quiet. The blonde had sound proofed the room after the doctors had left.

All was quiet…on the outside. Inside his head however, the god's thoughts were crashing into each other like cars on a freeway.

Just how was he going to do this? Be a crown prince, his father's ambassador, keep the peace in the Nine Realms as well as be a father to this beautiful little girl all at the same time?

"How in Odin's name is this going to work out?" he muttered to himself. Hermione blinked up at him. "Don't worry little one, your mother and I are going to protect you. We will figure this out, I promise."

"But if I were you, I'd do it fast."

Thor rolled his eyes at the telltale sound of his brother's voice before turning around and fixing the other god with a look.

Loki was standing a few feet away with his arms folded across his chest. He had raised one dark eyebrow and his clear green eyes were sparkling with mirth.

"Do you have any ideas?" Thor asked sarcastically, knowing that his brother always liked to input his own ideas into any conversation.

"Well, you do know that it is imperative that Odin never learn of this," Loki began. "He would insist on bringing her to Asgard and watching her very closely. You know what he did with my children."

Thor winced in sympathy. There hadn't been very many demi god children born to the people of Asgard in the last few millennia. Once there had been many, but a ruthless coup had occurred and they were hunted down and killed for their powers. After that Odin had declared that there were to be no more children born between mortals and Asgardians. Of course there were some that didn't pay attention to that law and had their own anyway. Loki was an example of that. Odin had exiled his children and forbade the god from ever seeing them. He had threatened Thor with the same if he were to ever learn that he had fathered a child with a Midgardian woman. It had never happened before so it was never something that he had to worry about.

And now he had.

No…taking Hermione back to Asgard would not be an option for him. Nor would staying around for too long. Odin might become suspicious and have him followed or worse, he would come himself.

"What other options do I have for seeing her?" he mused aloud. "I can't simply go back to Asgard and forget that she exists. It would be as if I am forgetting the functions of my left hand."

Loki rolled his eyes. "Firstly you can cease with the melodramatics. I'm not suggesting that's what you do. You will simply have to take your time with her as if comes. You will need to work around Father's blind sides."

"Does the allfather have any blind sides?" Thor asked doubtfully.

"If he doesn't then you must make him one. If seeing to the wellbeing of this little girl is something that you want to ensure, then you must do whatever it takes."

Thor blinked. Loki sounded surprisingly sincere. "You miss them don't you," he said knowingly. The dark haired god didn't answer and that was all the response that Thor needed.

"What of her mother?" Loki asked finally.

Now that was something that Thor wasn't too sure about. He cared for Natasha certainly, she had given him a beautiful child, but his own feelings toward her as a person were a confusing mass. She was beautiful, talented, intelligent, and had pleased him thoroughly that night so long ago. But aside from that, there wasn't much that he knew about her. He found the few conversations they had had together intellectually stimulating and there weren't many women outside of Asgard who could hold a conversation without staring at him with adoring eyes or stammering.

That was certainly a plus in her favor.

But if he wanted to further what there was between the two of them, then some more thought and direct conversation was needed.

"She is a pretty thing," Loki said stepping closer and Thor lowered his arms so his brother could look at his niece. Hermione gazed at him with her large blue green eyes. They were like the brightest of gemstones and there was an intelligence in them that would make her formidable when she was older.

"She certainly could pass for an Asgardian," the god of lies said finally. "She has the same bearing and intelligence. I can only assume it came because she's related to me."

"Odin, do you never stop posturing?" Thor laughed.

Just then Natasha stirred in the hospital bed behind him and Loki disappeared, but not before giving his brother a look that told him to be careful.

"Is Hermione alright?" Natasha asked. She sat up and stretched her arms. Thor turned from the window and took in the sight of her. Even without makeup and her hair slightly mused, she still looked beautiful. Although he did prefer the red to the brown.

"Yes, she is fine. Do you doubt my abilities?" he asked raising an eyebrow.

"Of course not. You're her father, but I don't know how much longer you're going to be around for and the last thing that needs to happen is for her to start depending on someone who won't always be there."

The moment she said the words, Natasha wanted to wince. She had never seen Thor angry but the look that crossed his face was almost terrifying. The room seemed to darken slightly and the light in the bulbs on the walls flickered and almost went out.

"You think that I will simply disappear from my daughter's life like an arrow from a bow? That I care more for my self-preservation then hers?" The words were spoken with a deadly intensity and Natasha knew right away that she had made a mistake.

"I apologize," she said calmly. "But you must admit this situation is complicated. Can you promise that you are going to be there to keep her safe all the time?"

The light came back into the room as the blonde calmed, and the hard look on his handsome face smoothed out. "You are right," he said, tone betraying nothing of the quiet rage he had embodied a few seconds earlier. "There is that notion to contend with. But how can I not bond with her? A part of her is mine as well."

At his face Natasha softened and she realized she had no right to judge. She herself had been thinking of giving up Hermione until a few weeks ago.

She threw back the sheet, got up off the hospital bed and walked over to him. Natasha found she was very conscious of the fact that he was just over half a head taller than her five foot nine inches frame. And that was saying something. She reached out and placed a gentle hand on his forearm that was still crooked protectively around Hermione.

"That's not what I am asking for," she said calmly. She knew she had his full attention for his intense blue eyes were watching her closely. She knew the gaze well, it was the look that he had given her when they had been speaking plainly that night in Miami after the incident at the Hampton. The look that said the person speaking was the only one that mattered.

"I want you to have a part in her life, she is a part of you. But I what I need to understand is what will happen from here on out. I am being hunted by the Red Room Thor, and they aren't likely to give up until I am dead. I will not leave Hermione without a mother."

The two of them gazed down at the little girl in the blonde's arms. She still hadn't made any effort or noise since she had first been birthed and was watching both of her parents with her large gem like eyes.

"And taking the two of you with me to Asgard would be out of the question," Thor said stonily and Natasha nodded. She had been prepared for him to offer that option to her, but she knew she would never take it. She didn't belong there.

"So what does that leave us?" she asked finally.

Thor sighed. "With a considerable range of complications."

Ω

Natasha was discharged from the hospital a few hours later and while Thor suggested he port them back to the house, but she had remembered she had left the rental car in the parking lot and would have to drive it back.

When they arrived at the house, Natasha started to laugh at the expression on Thor's face. His jaw was locked so tight it would have taken an expert code breaker to break it and his hands were gripping the sides of the seat so hard his fingernails had torn clean through the leather.

"Odin, that was worse than the plane we travelled in to America a few months ago," he said. Natasha smirked. "I would say the same thing about porting."

They got out of the car and Natasha retrieved Hermione from her car seat. This time, she was fast asleep.

"When do you think you'll need to be back?" she asked quietly as the two of them entered the house. The blonde sighed and ran a hand through his hair making it somewhat unruly. "Soon enough I suppose. I'm sure my brother has spun our father some outlandish story about where I am. But he would have no reason to believe that I am down on Midgard."

Thankfully since she had decided that she wanted to keep Hermione, she and Petunia had gone shopping for a few baby things. A small crib had been set up in the living room and Natasha placed Hermione in there before she and the tall blonde sat down on the couch.

"We need to figure some things out," she began. "I know this situation is hardly ideal, but I know you want to be a part of Hermione's life. She'll need you as well. But even thinking like that is not going to solve the problems when her father lives in a different universe."

"For right now, I can only promise that I will come as often as I can," he said somberly, and she could tell that he was disappointed. But then his expression turned steely. "Now what is this about the Red Room hunting you?"

Natasha sighed. "I've been with them since I was fifteen years old. During that time, I rose very high in rank. I know a lot of secrets that could spell disaster for them if they were leaked to the international community. For them, it is better to shut me up for good."

"And Hermione?"

Aside from Ivan, no one knows about her."

"There is the scientist."

Natasha cringed. She had forgotten about Horatio. "I don't know what they've done with him," she said.

"As far as I know, nothing has happened as of yet," Thor said calmly. Natasha got up off the couch and began to pace. "Yes, something has happened," she said. "A direct hit was ordered on the house across the street and two civilians and that I knew liked and respected were killed on his orders."

She reached into her pocket, yanked the medallion from a hidden fold and slapped it down on the coffee table for the blonde to see. He picked it up and examined it closely.

"The Barlows were good people who took time out of their lives to welcome me and make me feel at least somewhat at home in this neighborhood. The fact that Stefan ordered a hit on unarmed civilians is enough to guarantee that I will never go back to Russia. In fact when Hermione is a little older, Ivan has already guaranteed me a place in the British Secret Service."

"Well it seems as if at least some plans have been nailed down," Thor said calmly. "Although I must admit that I wasn't expecting them to turn on you this easily."

"There are no heroes among them," Natasha said somewhat sadly. "I will not be easy to replace but I'm sure that with time, someone else will step up to fill my shoes." She continued to pace again, but apparently, Thor had had enough of her stressing because he reached out and seized her forearm before yanking her back onto the couch so she landed halfway in his lap.

Natasha froze, stunned at his forwardness, but he didn't seem to be fazed at all. If anything, he seemed to think what he had done was perfectly normal, because he didn't focus on her bewildered expression at all.

"Then let us examine what we know," he said, his rough hands still wrapped around her smaller wrists. "You are being hunted by your former place of employment, who have not the faintest idea that you have a child. They ordered the termination of two humans who for some reason they connected with you and left behind there calling card," he said picking up the medallion.

"And you can't stay for very long seeing as how you are a god and belong to a different realm and place from here, and therefore can only come when it is possible and when your father is not looking," she finished.

The two of them said nothing for a moment, just taking all of the information in. The only sounds that could be heard were that of the soft ticking of the clock on the mantle in the living room.

"We have ourselves a conundrum," Thor said finally sighing. "For right now the only promise I can make is that I will come as often as I can. This isn't something that should be rigorously scheduled given our situation."

"I agree."

"Do you still have that pendent I left you?" he asked suddenly and Natasha frowned before nodding and fishing it out from under her shirt and unclasping it.

The god took the amber pendent in his hand and waved his hand over it before muttering under his breath. There was a flash of golden light and then nothing. But as he handed the pendant back to her, it felt warmer than usual.

"This is not only a tracking device now, but you will be able to use it to contact me should, Odin forbid, the worst arise," he said calmly. Natasha looked at it carefully before slipping it over her head. She glanced up to find him watching her carefully. "Thank you," she murmured, feeling surprisingly grateful.

"You're welcome," he said. "I will not be needed on Asgard for the next twelves hours and if it alright with you, I would like to spend as much time with you and my daughter as possible."

She nodded and gave him a small smile, not missing the fact that he had included her in the statement of people he wished to spend the time with. If she did, she would send her mind hurtling down a path of confusing thoughts and vague notions.

Ω

They both slept in the living room that night as that was where Hermione's crib was. He stayed on one couch and she on the other. There was a certain amount of awkwardness between them given their current situation, but Natasha decided she wasn't going to let it bother her. They had had a child together, they should at least try and be comfortable around each other.

What surprised her was how quiet Hermione was. She didn't cry and when Natasha woke unexpectedly sometime in the night she saw Thor standing by the window holding their daughter in his arms. The look of wonder on his face was so intense that something tugged in her stomach. She decided to not make them aware of her presence and simply watch. He was humming an unfamiliar lullaby to the baby girl and her large aquamarine eyes were wide open and staring up at him as if she understood everything that was being said.

Natasha didn't know why, but she felt something tighten in her chest as she watched them. There was something so intimate about watching her daughter and her daughter's father sharing such a simple moment together.

They looked like…a family.

It was a thought that scared the holy hell out of her, but the vivid nature of the picture the three of them created was impossible to deny.

Natasha laid back down and closed her eyes. This was just too weird to think about.

The following morning, Natasha and Hermione were still asleep and the god was watching them. But he found his attention straying more from his daughter to Natasha. She had had a baby twelve hours earlier and she still looked gorgeous, although that no doubt had something to do with the fact that her body could repair itself at will.

The matter of Hermione aside, what was he going to do about the beautiful red head? And he preferred her red hair much more than the deep brown curls she now had as a part of her disguise. She intelligent and powerful, cunning, ruthless and resourceful and he did was to spend part of the time he had down here with his daughter getting to know Natasha better as well, but Asgard would be overthrown before he would admit that.

The sun was just coming over the horizon when he decided to step outside for a moment. The air was fresh and cool and surprisingly not much unlike the atmosphere of Asgard. Natasha lived on a quiet street and all the houses seemed to have manicured lawns and garages on the side with one car in the driveway.

It was somewhat quaint and entirely mundane. No one would think to look for her here.

Except that someone had.

The god clenched his fists and a quiet growl emanated from his throat when he thought that someone had tried to harm Natasha and his daughter. He needed to figure out who and dispose of them immediately.

A soft sound to his left drew him out of his thoughts. The neighbor he had talked to yesterday before hurrying to the hospital was out in the flowerbeds once more, she didn't seem to have noticed him, but he decided he would look away just in case.

All of a sudden his feet nudged something on the stone step and he glanced down. There was an unrolled newspaper sitting on the front step. Curious the blonde bent down and picked it up.

There was a big bold headline across the front which read: **Police Have No New Leads In The Barlow Case.**

The god frowned, he remembered Natasha mentioning the Barlows the night before. They had been friends of hers and had been killed by an unorthodox hit that that fool Stefan ordered himself.

_I need to look into this, _the god though running a hand along the skin of his chest.

All of a sudden there was an odd sound from his left and without turning his head, he used the superb peripheral vision that so often helped him on the battle field to see where the noise had originated.

Turned out it had come from her neighbor. She had caught sight of him standing on the stoop by the door and was staring at him slack jawed. Normally such attention would have pleased him, but now he only felt mildly amused.

He turned his attention back to the paper, still aware of the fact that the neighbor was watching him.

All of a sudden, the door behind him closed and he turned to find Natasha standing there, Hermione in her arms. She was wearing an oversize night shirt that did everything to flatter her legs. In the god's opinion, they were one of her best features. They went on for days and she had the most flawless skin he had ever seen.

He blinked when he realized she had raised an eyebrow at him. "Did you sleep well?" he asked as nonchalantly as possible.

She nodded. "Hermione decided enough was enough apparently. I held her for a while and then she started to look around. I think she was looking for you."

Thor grinned and looked down at his daughter. As soon as she saw him, a huge smile crossed her face and her mouth opened in a silent baby laugh.

"Emma! I didn't expect you back from the hospital until today!"

At the sound of the excited voice, Natasha glanced up and smiled when she saw Petunia throw down her gloves and start over to them. She walked over and gave the other woman a gentle one armed hug as she was still holding Hermione.

Petunia sighed in delight when she saw the little girl in her neighbor's arms. "Oh Emma, she's beautiful." Hermione glanced up at Petunia with wide eyes and then gave her a shy smile.

"What did you decide to call her?" Petunia asked. Natasha smiled fondly down at her daughter and wrapped one of the baby's curls around her finger. "Hermione," she replied softly. "Hermione Antonina Granger."

"That's beautiful," Petunia whispered and reached out one of her hands to the little girl and blinked in surprise when Hermione reached out one of her tiny hands and seized one of the blonde's fingers.

The two women smiled at each other in delight and Natasha suddenly blinked when she heard the sound of a throat clearing. She glanced back and saw that Thor was still standing on the stoop, arms crossed over his bare chest, one eyebrow raised at her.

"Where are my manners," she said slipping into her cover mode. She walked back quickly and seized the blonde's hand, surprising herself, and pulled him back to where Petunia was watching. The former agent was not oblivious to the fact that Petunia's jaw slackened when she saw him.

"Petunia, I'd like you to meet my husband…..Dan. Dan Granger." Her mind had scrambled for a second before seizing upon the first name she thought of.

"It's a pleasure to meet you," he said to her neighbor and Natasha wanted to roll her eyes. She wished he had remembered to put a shirt on. His physique was distracting enough when he had clothes on, but without a shirt, Natasha herself was finding it hard not to stare. She felt sorry for Petunia, the woman was trying so hard and she had no idea that Natasha's "husband" was a god and appealing to females was probably a part of his genetic makeup.

"Yes, well," she stammered. "I believe…that is…what I meant was…..we sort of met yesterday."

Natasha frowned up at the blonde. "You came by the house yesterday?" He nodded. "I was looking for you, but Petunia here was kind enough to tell me that you were at the hospital and to give me the directions there."

"I see," Natasha said feeling somewhat amused. She was about to ask how Dudley was, when there was a shout from the front of the house. Natasha felt her lowed lip curl when she saw that it was none other than the walrus who looked royally pissed and was lumbering toward them.

_The tub of lard is probably upset that his breakfast his cold and he's too stupid to know how to heat it himself, _Natasha thought grimly.

By this time Vernon had reached them and he reached out a meaty hand and seized Petunia by the wrist causing her to flinch noticeably.

"I thought I told you that your little gardening parties were to be held after you got my breakfast?" he growled out.

Natasha couldn't believe the man's nerve. He came out there in broad daylight where the neighbors could see him to terrorize his wife.

"I'll…..I'll be right in Vernon," she stammered. The walrus opened his mouth to berate her some more, but suddenly became aware that there were two other people standing there. His mouth twisted into a sneer, which quickly dropped off his face when he caught sight of Thor.

For once Natasha was grudgingly glad that the god was with her because she had forgotten how intimidating he could be when he wished to. He stood a good head taller than Vernon and she could practically see the disapproval and disgust rippling off of him in waves as he looked down at the pudgy man before him.

For once the walrus seemed to have realized that he had made a blunder and being the little cowardly rat he was, turned and hurried back into the house without a word. Petunia's face visibly relaxed as the door slammed.

"Are you alright Petunia?" Natasha asked. The blonde nodded feebly. "I better get back inside and fix the breakfast."

She said goodbye to Natasha and Thor and hurried into the house. The agent and the god stood there for a few moments looking at the space she and the walrus had been moments before.

Wordlessly they turned around and walked back into the house, but it wasn't until he had closed the door behind them that she caught the scowl on the blonde's handsome face.

"Is something wrong?" she asked, frowning. Thor ground his teeth together. "I haven't met very many mortals down here that I loathe and abhor as much as that man. And that was just from one meeting."

Natasha snorted and handed his daughter to him so she could go to the kitchen and pour herself some coffee. She had put the machine on before she went outside. "I met him almost a year ago and he positively repulsed me with his behaviour. He's an uncouth walrus."

She poured the hot coffee into her mug and turned back to the kitchen table to see that he was watching her and his handsome face had gone hard. "What?"

"I don't want you around him Natasha," he said tersely. "Him or Hermione. The man is clearly an abuser to his wife if the fear I saw on her face is any indication. I don't want him anywhere near the two of you."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, both amused and irritated. "I have been part of an international espionage agent since I was fifteen years old and know how to kill a man in more ways than I can count, know every martial art form and possess a significantly more advanced body then the average human. I think that I can handle one overgrown pompous walrus."

"That is not what I meant," Thor said calmly. He got up and made his way over to her before looking into her eyes. He then surprised her by reaching out and taking one of her hands. "I don't want you to feel like you have to. There's Hermione to think of. Things are a little different."

She sighed, knowing he had a point. "Very well. If it makes you feel better and not that I would ever willingly do so in the first place, but I will limit my almost non-existent interactions with the…..walrus."

His handsome face relaxed into its regular smirk again. "Thank you. The last thing that needs to happen is for you to be carted off by the local authorities for murdering your neighbor."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Please if I was lucky enough to do away with that bag of fat, no one would ever know, including you."

Thor grinned, a sudden expression crossed his face however and he grimaced a moment later and then cursed in an unfamiliar language.

"Is something wrong?" Natasha asked frowning. He gave a deep exhale. "My brother is calling for me again. I've overstayed my time."

"Already?" Natasha asked feeling somewhat disappointed and at the same time wondering why she felt such things.

He nodded somberly before heading for the living room. Once he was ready, he passed their daughter to her but not before kissing her on the forehead. And then he surprised Natasha again when he leaned down and kissed her on the forehead.

"I'll be back as often as I can," he promised and then in a flurry of gold, he was gone.

Natasha tentatively reached up and touched the spot on her skin where he had kissed her. There was a tingling sensation there that grew more intense as she touched it.

She grinned and glanced down at Hermione who was looking up at her with wide aquamarine eyes.

"Well little girl, it looks like for now it's just you and me."

Ω

Later that afternoon, Petunia came over with Dudley and the two children were dozing in their respective bassinettes. Natasha had no sooner come out to the backyard and handed her guest a glass of lemonade when the blonde started in on her.

"Alright, at the risk of sounding like a ridiculous school girl, I need to know something. Where in God's green earth did you find him?"

Natasha frowned and took a sip of her lemonade. "Who are you talking about?"

"What do you think I'm talking about? Your husband. Where did you find him? And can you please take me there so I can't find one like him?" Petunia sat back in the deck chair dramatically. "Sweet Lord, if I knew there were men like that that existed on this earth….."

_You're not far off the mark Tuney, _Natasha thought smirking. The blonde was still talking however.

"He has the face of an Adonis and the body of a god," Petunia went on. Natasha smirked into her glass of lemonade. _She certainly knows how to hit the nail on the head, doesn't she? _She thought to herself.

"Well he is a….soldier Tuney, they are required to be fit," Natasha said, staring out over the backyard still smirking.

"Well I know but that, but Dan is…..well, he's on another planet from the men around here. Good Lord, if there were more men around like that I wouldn't have known Vernon even existed."

She laughed but there was a sadness in her eyes that Natasha caught. She knew her neighbor was a whimsical person and someone who seemed upset that her fairy-tale romance was taken from her. Correction…..that the walrus had taken from her.

"Where is Dan from anyway?" Petunia asked breaking into her friend's thoughts. Natasha blinked, her mind racing.

"Norway," she said quickly. "His father was American and a soldier as well but he was transferred over there and that's where he met Dan's mother."

Damn, was she good at lying or what?

"So that's why he's so scrumptious," Petunia said dreamily. "Must be all that Norwegian blood. It has to be hot to keep them warm up there."

Natasha coughed into her glass of lemonade. It was kind of funny hearing Petunia talk about the god that way. Then again, she'd probably talk that way about him to if she had the walrus for a husband.

"How's Dudley been lately?" she asked changing the subject. Petunia's face lit up and Natasha smiled watching her friend talk about her son who she was pretty sure was her favorite subject.

"He's been the sweetest little angel Emma. He's only two months old and I can tell he's curious about everything. His crib was by the open window and a butterfly flew in and landed on his nose. He reached up and managed to touch its wings before it flew off but he remembered it because every day since, he keeps looking toward the window and flapping his hands like the butterfly."

"He's going to be very smart," Natasha said. Truthfully, from what she had seen of Dudley, he looked like a quiet little boy. Of course he would be given the fact that he was around his mother all day and only saw his walrus of a father for a few hours in the evening.

She fervently hoped he stayed that way.

Hermione was still asleep but Natasha smiled when she looked over at her baby girl. She had her father's eyes and Natasha's hair which if anything was going to be very curly. She grinned and relaxed back in her seat, glad to be simply enjoying a quiet afternoon.

It wouldn't remain so for long.

Ω

"Everything is resolved?"

Thor grinned at his brother as they walked back to the city together. "It will be in time my friend. But before that happens, there is a little something down on Midgard that needs to be taken care of first."

"Oh? And what might that be?" Loki asked.

Thor turned his face toward the city, smirk coming over him. "Some of the mortals have taken it upon themselves to put my daughter and her mother at risk. They need to be taken care of."

"Really? And just how are you going to do that?" the other god asked sarcastically.

"That my dear brother, is where you come in."

Ω

**And baby Hermione is here! I hope I didn't keep you guys waiting for too long. Also I had a question for everyone. The original idea for this story was that Thor and Natasha would have a child together, but I never got as far as whether or not I wanted them to actually be together. What do you guys think? Let me know and enjoy the chapter! **


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9

During the next little while, Natasha fell into a routine.

She would rise in the morning, feed Hermione and then go about the day with her daughter. Natasha found that reading soothed the both of them if they were stressed or upset about something and Hermione would fall asleep to the sound of her voice.

Petunia made sure to come over every day with Dudley since she knew that Natasha was uncomfortable in her house. Dudley and Hermione would often sit on a mat and wave their toys around or smack their hands together. Petunia would laugh as she watched the two of them play and for once, Natasha thought her friend looked genuinely happy.

Of course, that look would fade as the afternoon wore on and the shadows grew longer. The sparkle would fade from her eyes, and the smile would regress to a thin pinched line as she looked at the sun and mentally determined how long it would be until Vernon returned.

"It's almost as if he doesn't care about Dudley," Petunia confided in Natasha one afternoon. "He gets home and all he cares about is his alcohol and food, but I wouldn't put it past him to take Dudley from me just to hurt."

"Petunia, I know I've asked this before," Natasha said carefully. "But why did you marry Vernon if you have to live in constant fear of him?

The blonde looked down at her hands sadly. "I was too desperate for normal Emma. It was all I wanted to be all my life."

"Forgive me, but I'm afraid I don't understand, you already are normal, how could you want to be more of what you already are?" Natasha asked.

"My sister, the one I haven't seen in many years….she….well, she was special. Gifted you might say even. She wasn't what we would call normal in any sense of the word, but in every good sense at least. She….she could do things that I couldn't understand or replicate. She was just better then be at everything." Petunia looked up at her friend, watery eyes, suddenly looking even fuller of moisture.

"And I'm ashamed to say I treated her very poorly because of it. I was jealous of how proud our parents were of her and I took every opportunity to make her look bad. I claimed she was a freak for being so different, and over time, I began to believe it myself. I wanted to be normal and be away from her so badly that I decided to ignore all of the flaws I saw in Vernon and marry him without my parent's approval. And I am now paying for that mistake."

"And what about your sister?" Natasha asked gently. She knew how important the bond between sisters was at having lost her own at so young an age. She glanced down at Hermione who was waving a toy at Dudley and smiled. Antonina would have loved her.

"I don't know," Petunia whispered. "She disappeared about a year ago. I know she married, but that's about it. My parents died in a fire a few years ago so I can't ask them."

Natasha nearly flinched at the word fire, as she knew all too well how it could destroy, but didn't let it show.

"Tuney, it seems as if you've reached a bit of a crossroads. You're not really sure where to go from here. But you need to make a decision soon. Dudley deserves that. For your sake, I hope that Vernon changes, but if he doesn't –"

"I know Emma," Petunia interrupted and her face had turned sadder as she thought about what her friend had said.

They spent the rest of the afternoon in comparative silence, reminiscing on their past lives as they thought on what had been.

It had been awhile since Natasha had seen Thor, and she would grudgingly admit that she kind of missed his being around. She was more than capable of protecting Hermione, having thrown herself back into training with a vengeance. Something that had thoroughly surprised her was the fact of how quiet and well behaved Hermione was. She rarely cried and when she did, it was because there was something very wrong.

If anything, being a mother suited Natasha, Petunia would often complain to her how her body didn't seem to be affected by the pregnancy whatsoever, and Natasha would just laugh and say it was good genes.

It wasn't completely wrong. Her genes were far better than that of the average human. It might also explain why Hermione didn't need as much sleep as other babies or why she was so attentive to everything going on around her.

But there were times when that scared Natasha. There was a time when she had gotten up to check her daughter in the middle of the night and nearly gasped in surprise when she saw that the baby girl had somehow levitated her teddy bear into the air and was watching and giggling as it hovered above her head.

This was a cause for both excitement and nerves because of what it meant. Her daughter was both half god and a witch. Which meant that her magic would be insanely powerful above that of the average witches and wizards.

_She'll never be completely normal. She'll never have a normal life, _Natasha thought sadly as she watched Hermione sleep one evening.

_But neither is her mother, _a small voice whispered back and the red head gave a choked laugh. That was very true, neither of them would ever be completely normal. She was a genetically altered superhuman who would live for much longer than the average person as well as a dormant witch whose daughter was half god and also a witch.

The whole thing served to give her an enormous headache.

But through the next few weeks, Natasha realized that she couldn't ignore it any longer and that Hermione was going to be a witch, and a very powerful one at that. Her aquamarine eyes already crackled with electricity like her father's and she had her mother's smirk, Petunia often said. When she wasn't training and keeping an eye on Hermione, Natasha threw herself into research about the life and the world that she had thought she had left behind. It was painful to do, but for Hermione's sake, she had to know.

It took a lot of will, but she finally fished out her old cherry wood wand and began practising some of the spells she remembered. They were simple, but also effective, besides she wasn't planning on leaving her day job and going back to the world of magic anytime soon. Hermione might, but she wouldn't.

It was during this time that she began to worry about whether or not her daughter would attend a primary school or whether or not she should begin looking into magical schools. She had remembered her father potentially sending her and Antonina to one when they were old enough.

Hogwarts…..yes that was it.

He had wanted to keep them close to him, but he hadn't liked the look of Durmstrang which was closer and the population of the school at the time had been mostly male, and a father worries about that kind of thing.

"There's still time," she whispered one afternoon when Hermione was playing on the blanket in the backyard. She on a sweet pale blue jumper that matched her eyes and her little strawberry blonde curls were stuck up all over her head.

_I hope her hair doesn't come out too bushy when she gets older, _Natasha thought. _The other children might tease her._

Then she wanted to laugh. _She's half god, she'd probably kill them all if she wanted to. If she's anything like her father, which I think she is. _

Hermione was indeed proving to be just like her father. She had a smile that would light up a room and an energy where she never seemed to tire. If Natasha had been a regular human being she would have been beyond exhausted. As it was, she was amazed at her daughter's vitality and how she seemed to bounce along on complete effervescence.

There came am afternoon when it was storming outside when Hermione was three months old and because of her acute hearing, the thunder was keeping Natasha awake. Hermione seemed to be a night owl just like her mother because she was wide awake as well. Her crib was right underneath the window and the rain was lashing against it at a furious rate, the lightning almost blinding outside. But the little girl wasn't afraid, if anything, she seemed quite fascinated and reached out one of her hands as if to catch hold of the yellow light in her hands.

"This is your father's element little one," Natasha murmured, picking up the little girl and standing with her near the window. "He's the god of lightning and storms. It shouldn't be unusual that you like them as well."

Hermione looked up at her mother quizzically. "You already sort of look like him you know?" Natasha mused. "Same eyes, same energy, same smile." She paused. "Although, you do have my curls."

There was a bright flash of light behind her and Natasha spun around with deadly precision ready to face whoever it was when the light died and a tall familiar man with long blonde hair stepped out. He was dressed in civilian clothes as usual, but Natasha always felt he looked a tad bit out of place in them. He looked like a king, he should have to dress like one as well.

She raised an eyebrow at him as he strode toward her. "Well it's been a while hasn't it?"

He mirrored her face. "I see your greetings haven't gotten any less direct."

She smirked at him. "Why should they? I like to catch people off guard."

He smiled back. "Well then I'm afraid my darling Natasha, that you're going to have to keep on trying."

She rolled her eyes and handed Hermione over, whose eyes had brightened up considerably at the sight of her father.

As he took his daughter, Natasha took a moment to look him over. She had to admit that he looked good. But then, looking good was probably a part of his genetic makeup, or maybe it was just because she hadn't seen him for three months.

Whatever.

"She grows so fast," Thor marveled. Natasha smiled. "She does, she does things that remind me of you every day."

Thor looked up at her and expression in his eyes grew very soft. "I did miss you and her a great deal," he said quietly, and Natasha glanced down at her feet suddenly feeling a little warm in her cheeks. "We missed you too," she replied.

The blonde reached out, took her hand and drew her a little closer to him and Hermione. "Well at least I'm here now. I had forgotten how quickly three months passes, when you are immortal it only seems like a few moments. There haven't been any problems have there?"

He was asking a two part question, the most objective aspect being of threats from the Red Room and then the less important one of her walrus like neighbor next door who had a hobby of terrorizing his wife.

"No, there have been no problems," she said calmly. "On any front."

"Good," he said and he sounded as if he really did mean it. But his relieved tone made her a little bit worried.

"Has anything happened on Asgard?" She asked slowly, eyes skimming every inch of his face. She had never had any trouble reading anyone, even Stefan until she met him, but she had always had to guess with Thor.

"I fear that war will be coming to the realms," he said, his expression turning dark. "And when that happens, I may not be able to make the trip to see either of you." He kept including her in the equation of people he wanted to see and while Natasha was pleased that he wanted to see his daughter even during open war, she couldn't help but feel relieved that she was part of that equation as well.

"And I take it that an Asgardian war would be far more dangerous than a war down here on earth?" she asked although she already knew the answer.

"Yes, there is more magic, more power, more ruthlessness because there aren't as many limits to what Asgardians can do," he said, although his eyes were focused on his daughter who was looking up at him and smiling.

"But enough of that," he said blinking and then focusing on her face. "How have the two of you been?"

"We're fine," Natasha replied. She wondered if she should tell him about some of the reservations she had been having. It wasn't like her to share her problems, but this was the father of her child. If she couldn't tell him, then it wasn't likely that she could tell anyone.

"But there is something I should tell you," and his head shot up immediately, blue eyes becoming intensive and speculative. "What is it?"

Instead of answering right away, Natasha took his hand and led him over to the couch in the living room where they were and sat down. He hesitated a second before sinking down beside her.

"It's nothing bad," she said when she saw that his expression was steadily darkening. "But I'm not sure how good it is either."

He raised an eyebrow. "Have you always had a talent for being cryptic?"

She smirked. "I could ask you the same question. It's how I've survived all these years on my own. The only person who could truly understand me _was_ me. But I digress, the issue is that Hermione is half god. She is going to be very powerful I can already tell, but not just because of that. My family past will have a part to play in it as well."

He raised an eyebrow indicating for her to go on. Natasha took a deep breath suddenly feeling very nervous. What she was about to tell him she had never told to another living soul, not even to Ivan and he had practically raised her. It had just been too painful for her to talk about before and later when she was grown there had been no reason to. She had made her peace with the past, and had done her best to forget about it. For the most part she had been successful. Until she had had Hermione that was. Now it was hard for her to forget what a good aunt Antonina would have been or how much her parents would have loved their granddaughter.

"Natasha? Are you alight?" Thor asked and the red head blinked, reluctantly pulling herself from the past.

"Yes…..yes I'm fine. I'm sorry, this is somewhat difficult," she paused again, cursing her lack of speech. _It's been years since their death Romanov, get it together!_

"I came from a family of magic users," she finally said and waited for his response. But to her surprise, his only answer was the raise of an eyebrow. "Is that all? Natasha there are many magic users on Asgard, not all of them strong, but they are few and far between."

"No that is not all," Natasha replied, a little irritated at being interrupted. "They are not as common here. My parents and sister were killed by one of them who was a radical when I was eight years old. It's why I left that world behind for good, but with the birth of Hermione who will most definitely be one as well as part god it's something that I need to think about again.

The god's expression had softened at the mention of the death of her parents. He didn't say anything however and for that she was grateful. There was nothing she hated worse than condolences. People had had no idea what she was going through so for them to try and understand it with said condolences only made her angry.

"And the impact of both of those aspects on her as she grows older will be great," Thor continued. "And you are wondering how to raise her and educate her."

Natasha nodded. "There are some good schools around here, but I don't think, given her ability as well as who and what she is, that trying to disguise her as a regular human when she is clearly not would be unwise." The god nodded slowly.

"I have heard of a school in England where my father was planning to send me when I was older. It may be an ideal place for her. All magical schools are boarding schools so she would be out of harms if god forbid, anything were to happen, and she would learn how to use her gifts."

"Don't you think it might be a bit early to be thinking about this?" Thor questioned. "The child is barely three months old. Perhaps she should have a bit of a childhood first."

Natasha sighed. "I suppose this is a part of being a mother that I should have expected. All the worry. It's a good thing I am equipped enough to handle it."

Thor smiled and reached for her hand which he promptly squeezed. "You're her mother, and this is something that never goes away, even when you're immortal."

Natasha gave him a half smile. Whatever differences there were between them, they had always been of the same mindset to protect and serve. And now that they had had a child together, that instinct had simply quadrupled.

Meanwhile, Hermione was looking between both of her parents has if trying to figure out what they were saying. She didn't understand anything of what was being said but she did here a deep rough scratchy sound and a light musical sound. She also saw the smiles, and they were pretty, she rather liked them, so when she saw them, she smiled too.

But then something caught her eye, the pretty yellow lights that would appear in the sky every so often kept drawing her attention from the window. Hermione opened her eyes a little bit wider in delight.

Natasha noticed what she was looking at and smiled. "She's the first child I've known who is not afraid of storms."

Thor looked pleased. "She is a child of storms and lightning, of course she wouldn't be afraid of them." Natasha smirked. "Let's hope she doesn't have your overconfidence though," she said.

The god looked mildly indignant. "I hope she does, what better way to show others who look down on her that she won't be party to their games and pettiness?"

Natasha let out a laugh. "All I'm saying is I hope some of that fire that you have will be cooled with my level head."

"Perhaps that is not a bad thing."

Ω

It was rather nice, just talking and catching up. Thor was so eager to see everything his daughter could do. Right now she could only sit up and roll over but when Natasha told him what she had done with her teddy bear he was ecstatic. He didn't express it in words, but she could see it in his eyes, he was thrilled.

She herself had a feeling that Hermione would be a bit of an overachiever, and that could be both a good and bad thing. Her daughter was sure to be ambitious and determined just like her, which was good, she was going to need qualities like that with the background that her mother had and she seemed to be someone who wouldn't be held back from things.

Looking at the little girl in Thor's arms, Natasha felt a surge of protectiveness. She wasn't going to let anyone harm her little girl. Despite the fact that her father may or may not be here all the time, she would claw anyone to shreds who tried to lay a hand on Hermione.

The evening wore on, and as usual the god ended up spending the night. Natasha would grudgingly admit that she was beginning to enjoy the times he did because it was always intimate without being…..well…..intimate. If that made any sense.

They caught up and got to know each other, and spent time with their daughter together in the silence of a quiet place. It was just nice to slow down and focus on the things that really mattered.

The following morning, was quiet as well and the god admitted to her, that it was rather nice to be away from all of the political intrigue as well as war councils. His father had wanted him and his brother to be the head of every fight, to spearhead the battle and show the other realms that they were not to be crossed.

But such political tactics were exhausting, not to mention long and arduous for the other realms were festering soup pots of rebellion. It would never be completely over, there would always be some land that needed policing.

Looking at him now, Natasha could see that Thor looked tired by the whole thing. He was immortal so he would never truly run out of energy, but there was a weight in his eyes that she knew all too well and behind the confident smirk and dazzling smile and electric blue eyes, she could see that he wanted a break.

"Maybe you should stay here for a while longer," she suggested and he gave her a smile. They both knew what his answer would be though. "I only wish," he replied. "There are times and places on Midgard that are so peaceful I would stay for the next century. Life seems so much simpler here. But I suppose when only one species occupies it, then it more likely that things will be quieter."

All too soon he had to leave again and Natasha found herself a little more disappointed than the last time if only for Hermione's sake. He had told her it would be like this, that there were times when he wouldn't be around for a while, but that made her sad for her daughter, because she shouldn't have had to put up with only seeing her father once every few months. She knew he was doing the best that he could and that this wasn't an ideal situation by any means, but it didn't mean that she had to like it.

However, this time when he left, he kissed her on the cheek instead of on the forehead and she smiled a bit at the gesture. She didn't know where life was headed for the two of them, but as long as the three of them remained safe, she was content to find out when it happened.

Ω

"I'm don't know about this Emma," Petunia said.

After a few months of talking herself into it, Natasha had finally found someone to watch Hermione while she went about the routines of daily life. She had gone back to work for the Garrets, but she knew in her heart that she would only be there for a few more years. She wanted Hermione to be a little bit older before she went to work for the British Secret Service with Ivan but she had decided that training again wouldn't be such a bad idea, but as a civilian. No one knew about the room she had set up in her basement that was similar to what they offered at the Red Room, but she had decided that enough special Ops training had been done and she was ready to look like a civilian.

Petunia had told her that the neighbors loved to gossip and that she had been something of a topic since she moved in. First a beautiful woman who was with child and living alone and then her drop dead husband comes along and stays for a bit before leaving again.

Natasha hated gossip. It was the bane of humanity and her existence. Empire had been crushed and kings assassinated because of gossip in history.

Which was why she was trying to make an effort to appear more normal and like she left the house for more than just work. And this was also why she had enrolled in a martial arts class and enticed Petunia to come with her.

At first the pretty blonde had been skeptical and a little nervous, but when Natasha had told her that it would help her learn how to defend herself as well as increase her confidence, she had changed her mind.

They were in their first class now in proper exercise attire waiting for their instructor to walk in. Natasha had to mentally remind herself that she couldn't draw too much attention to herself by being too good. Arguably she knew far more than the instructor knew and would ever know, but that was something she couldn't demonstrate. The last thing she needed was to draw more attention to herself.

The room looked like any other exercise room. There were floor length mirrors on all sides and the floor where they were standing was covered in thick mats. Everyone was dressed in the white jumpers one could expect to be wearing for a martial arts class with white belts wrapped around their waists. Everyone looked calm and relaxed…serious….but calm.

Everyone except Petunia that was. She was looking increasingly nervous, and was looking back and forth between the line of women and herself and Natasha with an anxious expression on her face.

"Are you sure about this?" she whispered, her eyes darting back and forth. Natasha bit her lip, trying to stifle a laugh. "Petunia it's perfectly safe. We're here to learn a few defensive techniques. There's nothing to be worried about."

"What if Vernon finds out. I'm not sure that he would like it if he found out."

Natasha held up her hand. "Two things. Who cares? Secondly, who's going to tell him? Let him think what he wants. Dudley and Hermione are with the same baby sitter and I can vouch for her. She's well trained and qualified. Also, why would it matter if he found out? Do you want to keep letting him think he can rule over you and terrify you whenever he wants?"

Petunia took a deep breath and shook her head, blonde curls quivering. "No….no I don't. I do want to be strong." Then she sighed. "You're so lucky Emma. I bet Dan supports everything you do."

Natasha hesitated. _I don't particularly think he was in favor of me disappearing off the grid with our daughter a year ago, because he had to come and find me, but whatever. I did what was best for Hermione._

"I wouldn't say everything," she said carefully. "But he is on board with me learning how to defend myself. After all, he is an…army man, so the concept of knowing how to defend oneself is pretty key to him."

She had been out of espionage work for a year and she still lied like a pro. The more she got to know Petunia however, the more Natasha wished she didn't have to lie to her friend. She liked the blonde, she really did. She was a genuinely sweet and kind person who had made some poor choices, but was trying to do right by her son. And in Natasha's book, that made up for any mistakes she had done or made before.

She opened her mouth to answer but was interrupted when the door to the studio opened and their instructor walked in.

"Good afternoon everyone, my name is Callum Regis, and I will be your instructor for this afternoon, now the first thing we're going to start with is some simple defensive techniques. We've all heard of what may or may not happen when you are walking along at night down a dark street."

As he spoke, Natasha zeroed in on his face and the expressions he was making. He was an all-around decent looking man with black hair and brown eyes. He had a tanned face but his teeth were a little too white and he looked a little too muscled. It was obvious he was confident in himself and enjoyed teaching women if the way his eyes darted back to her were any indication.

He seemed competent enough, but he didn't know half the things that she did, and if it was one thing that Natasha hated, it was people who thought themselves better than everyone else and at the same time, it was portrayed when they talked. He had a strut to his step as he almost pranced about the room, showing them the techniques in a way that would make most weak willed women swoon.

"Perhaps I should now call for a volunteer?" he suggested and all at once, the women looked eager. But he didn't seem to be focused on any of them. Instead, his eyes carefully looked over Natasha and then he pointed to her.

"You in the back. Yes, you darling, come on up to the front," he said beckoning with that too bright smile of his and Natasha wanted to gag.

But instead, she kept her expression passive and carefully made her way up to the front of the room, ignoring the other irritated expressions of the other girls. When she made her way up there, the instructor made a big show about placing his arm around her neck in a certain position that most muggers favored when they attacked someone. Unfortunately for him, training was Natasha's instinct and as soon as he had done so, her mind immediately went into combat mode.

Her expression suddenly went blank. She slammed her foot down on his instep, grabbed both of his arms and stretched them far apart from his body before seizing one of the water bottles closest to the edge of the mat and beating it into his chest causing it to explode and water to soak him. He stumbled back, both in pain and then in shock and Natasha proceeded to jump and kick him in the chest with both feet before landing on her upper back and using her arms and hands to propel her back up. At this point, he stumbled off the mat of the front of the room completely, and Natasha ran a few steps before leaping, locking her legs around his neck and taking him down for the count before jumping off.

There was a moment of dead silence in the class which was punctuated by the groaning of their instructor. Natasha was stunned for a moment at what she had done, and then began to curse mentally. Why the hell had she done that? She had just gone over why it was important to not draw attention to herself, and then she had gone and done exactly that.

Taking a deep breath, Natasha stepped down from the platform, ignoring the incredulous looks and open mouth and slack jaws and walked to the back where she retrieved her gym bag and headed for the door.

"Class dismissed," she whispered.

Ω

"Emma, are you going to tell me what that was all about?" Petunia asked.

After the fiasco that was the karate class, Emma had suggested they get some lunch instead of heading straight home. Rachel, the girl who was looking after both Dudley and Hermione loved the two of them and they her, so Natasha had had few qualms about leaving her little girl there.

"What was what about?" Natasha asked and Petunia looked at her as if she had lost her mind. "What do you mean what I'm talking about. That stunt you pulled back at the studio. Where on earth did you learn to do that?"

Natasha sighed. "Dan and I met in the army Petunia. We were both trained in Chechnya and were married there. So our training is quite…extensive."

"I'll say. I don't think I've ever seen someone take down a fully grown man like that. Vernon used to watch these martial arts tournaments on the television and what you did kind of reminds me of what they used to do. I mean, that was incredible!"

Natasha smirked as they sat down to eat in the restaurant. Petunia didn't know the half of it. When she was in the Red Room, she had done that kind of work every day and that had only been with one person, she had sometimes had to take down half a dozen or more by herself, and if there had been more, she had to get creative and use what every she could find to gain the upper hand.

"I wish I was able to do that," Petunia sounded, a strange note of longing coloring her tone, causing her friend to look up sharply in surprise.

_Trust me…..you don't. Because if you do, people will be on their way to find you who know how to do the exact same thing. And they won't only knock you out like I did with Regis. _

The restaurant they were in was a small place that served Greek food. Natasha had gone on assignment to Greece a few times and the food there had always appealed to her more than any of the other countries she had gone to. The Greeks used a lot of spices in their cooking and sour cream was on everything. They seemed to favor lemons as well and Natasha had always liked the sour fruit.

The waiter sat down large bowls of Greek salad in front of them with a small order of thick cut fries for Petunia. Neither of them were starving, but in Natasha's experience, Petunia was too wired to go home. And she would need some sugar and salt in her system before she was ready to crash after what happened back at the class.

"I'm sorry it didn't work out either way," Petunia was saying. "I wouldn't have minded taking a few self-defence lessons and learning a few techniques myself."

"Maybe we can try it again," Natasha suggested. "Without all of the martial arts Chechnya stuff thrown in."

They laughed and settled down to their meals, but Natasha had no sooner put a forkful of kale in her mouth when the bell above the door jingled. Out of instinct, she glanced up and frowned when she saw three men walk in dressed all in dark grey. They all had blonde hair and blue eyes and expensive black Oxfords. Normally, she wouldn't have taken such an interest but something about them just seemed…..off.

It wasn't until the men walked past their table and Natasha saw the tattoo on the backs of all of their necks that she knew where she had seen them before. The tattoo was an image of a blue triple bladed sword crowned with three stars.

It meant they were arms dealers from a major corporation. And there was only one major corporation she knew of that stole and sold military secrets and weapons to the highest bidder.

Konrad.

He was dead, but that didn't mean that there weren't more like him. With a chill, she remembered his last words. _I'm not the only one._

Was it possible that his body had been found and his men were out seeking revenge? She shook her head. No that was impossible, he had blown up the ballroom that night in Miami. There wouldn't have been any remains because he would have been charred to a crisp. No one would have known what had happened.

And then she paused. Would they?

It was certainly possible. To the general public, no one would have any idea of who she was and she was just another face in the crowd. But in the circles she had previously run in, it wasn't as if she was anonymous.

"Emma? Are you alright? You got awfully quiet there for a moment."

Natasha turned her attention back to her friend from where she had been staring at the cash register where the three men were standing having a somewhat heated discussion with the manager.

"Yes I'm fine. Uh, Petunia, I don't think this is a good idea. We should probably head on home to pick up the kids, it's getting late anyway," Natasha said carefully, keeping her tone even No way did she want Petunia to know that they were in potential danger as there were few in the restaurant now besides them and her friend did not need to be alarmed.

Petunia frowned. "But we just got here. Is something wrong?"

Natasha searched through her brain for an explanation. What could she say to get Petunia out of here? These men were no joke, in fact she was sure that she had seen one of them before when she had gone overseas to retrieve a weapon from Greece. Konrad's business was known on the black market at being exceptionally cutthroat and she had had to deal with them on more than one occasion. Anton had just been the messenger boy and the one who picked up and made deliveries. She didn't even want to know what the higher ups did.

Konrad was known as a man without a country who owed allegiance to no one but that didn't mean that others didn't share his opinion. As the Cold War had dragged on, the black market economy and the demand for weapons had grown fierce.

It was obviously still in operation upon Konrad's death.

"Petunia, you need to listen to me carefully. We need to move toward the door slowly and quietly. Do exactly what I tell you and above all else, _do not panic. _Do you understand me?"

The blonde opened her mouth, but then she saw the somewhat intimidating men standing up at the counter and shut her jaw with a snap and nodded.

Together they got up, and headed for the door. Natasha kept a tight grip on Petunia's arm until they got to the door and then she threw it open and led her friend out, keeping one eye on the men at the counter. Luck was with them because they hadn't looked up for a moment, but Natasha didn't relax until they were in the car heading home.

"You want to tell me what that was all about Emma?" Petunia asked, her brow wrinkled in confusion. "I mean, I will admit that those men didn't really look very friendly, but was that really a reason to get up and leave?"

Natasha took a deep breath. "My husband and I had a run in with them a year ago, a few months before I became pregnant. They're terrorists."

Petunia's face went pale. "What on earth were they doing in Surrey? This is one of the quietest neighborhoods this side of London. What could they possibly want here?"

"I'm not sure," Natasha said as she drove.

_But I am going to find out. _

Ω

Over the next little while, Natasha kept an eye out for the men. But as days passed into weeks and weeks into months, she became more at ease. There had been no further leads in the Barlow case even though she made sure to call every so often and ask. Vernon remained the same insufferable drunken fool he had always been. He didn't lay a hand on Petunia for which she was grateful because she didn't think the blonde would thank her for murdering her husband.

In the meantime however, Natasha simply focused on being a mother to her little girl and resuming her training as best she could. She read to Hermione every night and then went to work in the morning and trained in the basement when she got home. Things had sort of fallen into a routine for her and she found she rather liked that. Routines were simple, she didn't have to think too much about them and the never ending normalcy guaranteed that nothing unpredictable would ever happen.

She hoped.

One thing she was a little concerned about however was the fact that Hermione was displaying accidental magic more and more frequently. She was only seven months old but Natasha would often come into the nursery and see little golden sparks flashing at the end of her daughter's finger tips.

She wanted to do some more research about it or ask Thor, but she didn't know where she would go to find out about magic and Hermione's father hadn't been seen in months.

Everything was quiet…too quiet.

Until one morning in early November when she had gotten up to get a cup of coffee and the sound of yelling voices assaulted her ears from next door.

Natasha frowned. This was about the time that the walrus would be getting up for work. Petunia would usually fix his breakfast and because of the time of year, he wouldn't get upset about her taking the time to spend in the flowerbeds.

But as she listened, the voices grew louder, until the only one she heard was Vernon bellowing something about freaks and how he would have them under his roof.

Natasha went for her coat, deciding she would try and see what the noise was all about, but she had no sooner put it on and rested her hand on the doorknob when the front door of number 4 Privet Drive burst open.

Natasha hurried to the window and saw the walrus fling himself out the door and down the drive way. He fell into his car, started it up and backed out of it with a screech before tearing off down the road at a speed.

_What the hell was that all about? _Natasha wondered.

That thought had no sooner passed through her mind then when the telephone rang. Blinking to wake herself up from her thoughts, the beautiful red head hurried toward it and picked up. "Hello?"

"Emma?" Petunia whispered. She sounded breathless and a little shaky, there were tears in her voice and Natasha suddenly became alarmed. "Petunia? What's going on? Are you alright?"

"Yes….yes, I'm okay. Well at least for now."

_What the hell?_

"Petunia what are you talking about?"

The blonde's voice got even lower if that were possible. "Do you think you could come over with Hermione? I sort of have a problem. Someone delivered something to me in the middle of the night, and I'm not sure what I should do."

Ω

**Geez! Finally! I'm sorry about the wait guys, I know it's been over a month since I last updated this story. I hope you aren't too mad. Also, I didn't really like this chapter, I was experiencing some writer's block so that may be why most of it is kind of boring and dull. It doesn't really start to pick up until the end, and of course you know why ;) Anyway, tell me what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10

Her curiosity mounting by the second, Natasha rang off with Petunia and hurried up the stairs to the nursery, where she was unsurprised to find her daughter already awake. She bent down and picked her up, much to Hermione's giggling and dressed her quickly. Whoever said espionage work was difficult obviously had never been shackled with the task of dressing a wriggling baby. But Natasha found she was getting pretty good at it, and within five minutes, Hermione was dressed and wrapped in her coat.

Natasha put on her coat and shoes and locked the door before hurrying next door to Petunia's, her mind racing with a million possibilities of why on earth a package delivered to Petunia would cause her to have such an emotional response.

She rapped on the door and within five seconds, it was flung open to reveal a teary Petunia in her silken house robe Dudley in her arms.

"Petunia, what's going on?" Natasha asked in alarm as she stepped inside. Petunia shut the door. "Just come follow me."

She led the confused Natasha into the living room and there, sitting on the couch in a basket wrapped in a blanket, was a baby boy who was fast asleep.

Natasha blinked and stumbled back a step, completely surprised for the umpteenth time since coming to Great Britain. "Petunia…..whose baby is that?" She had visions of her friend saying it was Dudley's twin or a baby she had had with a lover who she had left behind at birth, the stuff out of soap operas.

Petunia sniffed and took a deep breath. "This is Harry, Emma. He's my nephew."

Ω

It took a cup of coffee and about fifteen minutes of story time for Natasha to get the story straight.

Harry was Petunia's sister Lily's son who had been estranged from the blonde for about four years. He had been deposited on their doorstep in the middle of the night because Lily and her husband had mysteriously died the night before. When Natasha inquired as to the meaning of the word mysterious in this context, Petunia fidgeted and looked down at her hands.

"I'm not sure if you'll believe me," she said finally and Natasha smiled. "Petunia, you would be surprised at how much I'm willing to believe. Just tell me."

Petunia seemed to wrestle with herself for a moment, but then her desire for the truth won out and she sighed. "My sister was a witch. And no, not in the sense of name calling. Like an honest to goodness, bona fide, able to perform magic witch."

Truthfully, that wasn't as bad as Natasha had been expecting it to be. She had expected Petunia to tell her that her sister had been the wife of a Mafia boss and they had been killed in a deal gone wrong and now their son had been placed on their doorstep as a means of saying: _we're watching you._

Because that would be alarming enough.

"Oh," she said. "I see."

Petunia frowned. "You believe me?"

Natasha smiled and dropped her head. "Petunia, there's something I should probably tell you," she said and then took a deep breath as she prepared to tell the secret only one other person alive knew, and they weren't even on the planet at the moment.

"Petunia….I'm a witch too. Granted, a non-practicing one," she said when she saw the blonde's eyes go big. "But I am still a witch. I haven't picked up a wand a lot in the last few years, but the ability to do magic just doesn't go away. I've learned to control it, but it's still there. And because of that," She glanced down at Hermione who was still asleep in her arms. "Hermione's going to be one too."

There was a long moment of silence where Natasha feared she had broken her neighbor. Petunia's eyes had grown wide and her mouth was opening and closing like a fish. It began to be so comical that Natasha couldn't help but laugh.

"I'm sorry," Petunia said when she had regained control of herself. "I just never would have thought that you….."

"Could live like a Muggle?" Natasha asked. "Trust me, I've had enough practice. I've been doing it since I was nine years old after my parents and sister died in a fire. I've only picked up a wand a few times since then."

Petunia's face immediately grew apologetic. "Oh dear, I'm sorry Emma. Losing your parents at that age has to be very hard. Mine died a few years ago in a fire too and I'm still not completely over it."

Natasha gave her a sad smile. "It's not something that you really get over Petunia," she glanced down at the little boy still asleep in the basket. "And now your nephew's going to have to deal with it."

Petunia sighed and gently brushed Harry's forehead in her sleep. "He's such a sweet boy, and I'm sorry that this is the way that I had to meet him."

"So what was all the yelling about this morning?" Natasha asked. "I heard the wal – Vernon yelling something about freaks and how he wouldn't have them under his roof."

Petunia sighed and the teary look came back into her eyes. "Vernon's always believed in normalcy, and he believes in it so much that anyone who does not adhere to that principle shouldn't be a part of society in his mind. People like my sister and Harry."

Natasha was outraged. It amazed her how deep her disgust for the walrus was becoming, but it had now reached a new low. She hated Vernon Dursley with a passion.

"So what are you going to do Tuney?" she asked, the calm question betraying nothing of the rage she was feeling.

Petunia glanced down at the little boy. "I want to keep him Emma. I wasn't the greatest sister to Lily when we were together, and I want to do right by her little boy. I love him already. It's going to be great for Dudley to have another play mate and I really think we could learn a lot from him. Plus, if my sister's husband was a wizard as well, so Harry is going to be able to use magic. That's the only thing I'm worried about…..well….that and Vernon."

She glanced up at her friend. "Emma, what do you think I should do?"

The red head glanced down at the beautiful little boy. He looked so angelic fast asleep in his basket. She looked back up at her friend. "What do you want?"

"I just told you, I want him, almost more than I've ever wanted anything. I knew I never wanted just one child, but you see who I'm married to, so I was afraid to ask. But now it looks like I won't have to. I'll tell him about his parents, but in a way he will be my son. And I can't tell you how happy that makes me."

Natasha smiled at her. Petunia was already a great mother, and she had more than enough love in her heart for two children. She would be good for Harry. She would raise him, teach him and look after him as if he were her own son. And even though he was going to be a wizard, Petunia now knew that Natasha was a witch and that Hermione would be one as well, so she would be able to help in that aspect.

But then her smile faltered. "What about Vernon? What will he say when he finds out you want to keep little Harry?"

For a moment, Petunia's smile faltered and she adopted a deer in the head lights expression. But then her eyes hardened and she set her mouth in a firm line. "Well then he's just going to have to deal with it. I want Harry, and there's nothing that's going to stop me from keeping him. He's not the one whose home all day taking care of Dudley. I should be the one to decide whether or not this is something I can handle. If I believe I can do it, then who is he to tell me otherwise?"

For a second, Natasha was surprised at the vehemence in her voice. But then she smiled. "You know Tuney, even though we didn't really get to take that karate class, you're confidence level is going up and I like it."

In her mind, she resolved to stand by and keep an eye on the situation if Vernon didn't like the way she was going about this. As far as Natasha was concerned, all the man was good for was bringing home a paycheck.

She glanced at the clock. "I should go soon Petunia, I need to get to work in an hour and a half."

Petunia nodded absently, but her eyes had this glazed over look and suddenly Natasha remembered something that she needed to ask now that she knew Petunia's family relations.

"Now that I know that your sister was a witch Tuney," she said slowly and with many pauses. "There's something I need to ask you."

"What's that?"

"Seeing as how your nephew and my daughter are going to be developing magical abilities, would you happen to know how to reach the magical society in Great Britain to figure out what we're going to do from here on out?"

Petunia paused. "There was one time when I went shopping with my sister and family to a place where a student could purchase all their school supplies. I knew that the school was called Hogwarts, and the place where we went to get them was….." She tilted her face to the ceiling and closed her eyes, trying to remember. And then her eyes popped open again. "Diagon Alley! That was the place! We got all of her school supplies there."

Natasha smiled, "Thank you Petunia. I will be sure to go and see if I can find the place. My father wanted to send me and my sister there when we were younger as it was a good school, but he never got the chance."

Petunia smiled in understanding. "Don't worry Emma, we both have magical children now, we'll just go through this together. It'll be a learning process, but we'll figure it out."

Ω

An hour after Natasha left, Petunia made sure to feed Harry change him and then set him on one of the blankets in the living room with a few toys to play with Dudley. They seemed to get on right away, and for that she was grateful. Dudley seemed to take on the role of big brother type since he was a few months older then Harry and a little bigger too. If a toy was too heavy he would crawl over to Harry and help him pull it. And when Harry got tired and lay down on the blanket and fell asleep, Dudley would tug a section of the blanket over him as best as he was able to and then patted and went back to play, always keeping an eye on his cousin.

The whole thing made Petunia want to sob with happiness when she saw it. When she had made the decision to take Harry in that morning with Emma, despite what Vernon had said, her greatest wish was more then hoping that they would just get along as cousins or even friends. It was that they would become brothers in time, and it kind of looked as if they were on their way there, even at this early stage.

Later in the afternoon at around three when both boys went down for their nap, Petunia was doing some reading, when suddenly there was a knock on the door.

Surprised, because she wasn't expecting anyone, and because she couldn't handle any more surprises after the shock of this morning, Petunia walked cautiously to the peep hole and looked through to make sure that no more babies were there.

She blinked in surprise and then opened the door when she saw a large trunk sitting on the step. And after a moment, she recognized it.

It was Lily's school trunk.

Petunia threw open the door and stood there in shock as she looked down at the enormous chest. She would know that thing anywhere. Lily had had it open for the last two weeks of August every year so she could dump all of her school books and school robes as well as her potions kits and dress wear into it at one time and then not have to open it until she got to Hogwarts.

Petunia hadn't seen the thing in years, so what on earth was it doing on her door step?

She stepped out and took a careful look around before grasping one of the side handles and slowly dragging it into the house. It was heavy, but she managed.

When she had shut the door, Petunia stood and looked at the trunk, wave after wave of nostalgia rolling over her. She had always hated the time of year when her dad would drag the monstrosity up from the basement. She would always have to walk past Lily's open door on her way to her room and see the thing perched open at the foot of her sister's bed…..mocking her, reminding her that her sister was going to a place where she would learn to do things that Petunia couldn't.

But now it just reminded her of how much unfinished business there had been between her and Lily and how she would never get another chance to tell Lily how sorry she was about the way she had treated her.

That age old adage was true, _you never know what you have until it's gone. _

Petunia sighed. She hated having regrets and she knew this was something she would carry with her for the rest of her life. Lily had deserved better then what she given her and while Petunia had wished with all of her heart that she could do magic like her sister, it hadn't been an excuse for the way she had treated Lily.

Pulling herself from the past, the pretty blonde knelt down and opened the lock on the trunk. Lily had shown her the combination one day when things were calmer between them and she had remembered it ever since.

When she pulled the lid open, Petunia became aware of the fact that there was a thick layer of dust covering everything. There were half a dozen books stacked neatly off to the left side of the trunk and in the bottom of the right, there was Lily's old potions kit as well as several letters tied together with a red ribbon

Petunia smiled sadly as she looked at Lily's old school books. She had been the top of her year and took great pride in studying and getting the best grades possible. Their parents had been so proud of her, and instead of bucking up and doing well herself in school, she had grown bitter and jealous and did everything she could to make trouble for Lily.

_Enough, _she thought. _Stop beating yourself up, it's over. Lily would have forgiven you. She would forgive anybody anything. _

She happened to glance at the clock and flinched. Vernon was going to be home in under two hours and she hadn't even started supper yet. She had no idea what he was going to say when he found out that she wanted to keep Harry. But at the moment, she didn't care.

With a great effort, Petunia hauled the trunk upstairs to the attic, locked it again and tucked it away in a dark corner before throwing an old blanket over it. Vernon never went up to the attic, but it was better to be safe than sorry.

_Who cares what that fat lump of lard thinks? _She thought vehemently, surprising herself as she went to check on the boys. _These are my kids and I'll be the one to decide whether I want to take Harry in or not!_

He was just going to have to deal with it.

Suddenly she glanced down at the pile of letters and frowned when she saw that the one on the top was addressed to her.

With shaking fingers, she reached down and picked it up. Petunia slowly broke the seal and tipped the envelope up so its contents spilled out before smoothing out the parchment inside and looking at her sister's familiar handwriting.

_Dear Tuney_

_If you're reading this, it means that things have gone south and I have unfortunately passed from this world. I wanted this to reach you no matter what happened but I had so hoped that I would be able to come in person._

_I know we had our difference growing up, but you were still my big sister. You would still beat up anyone who looked at me the wrong way when we were younger. No matter what happened, nothing ever changed that. You are hugely protective and fiercely loyal and the man who marries you is going to be lucky to have that. _

_I want you to know that I forgave you for everything that was said and done when we were still at home. I know you didn't mean any of it and if we could go back and do it again, I know I would in a heartbeat and if I could change things then I would ask that you would be there at Hogwarts with me Tuney. You are so special, don't settle because you deserve the very best._

_If I don't make it out of this war alive, I just wanted you to know that. It is my greatest wish that we will someday meet again and have a good laugh about all of this. You are an exceptional person Tuney and don't let anyone ever tell you differently._

_Take care of yourself and be the best in whatever you do._

_All My Love_

_Lily._

Petunia was having a hard time reading the words by the time she was done, her eyes were so full of tears. It was like a dream had come true. Lily had forgiven her, Lily still loved her and there was now closure between them.

"Thank you Lily," she whispered as she clutched the letter. "I won't let you down. I will raise Harry as if he was mine and anyone who tries to take him away from me can go to hell. I will make you proud and I will make you proud of him too."

Ω

Natasha picked up Hermione from the sitter and made it home around four. Vernon wouldn't be home for another hour, but she made sure to be there before he did, so she would be an extra support for Petunia.

It must have been an enormous shock to be asked to take in her deceased sister's nephew. But she was doing the right thing. Petunia was genuinely trying to change from the person she had been before, but it would be difficult with the tub of lard ordering her around.

She glanced down at her daughter as she carried her into the house. "I think we need to help Petunia and Dudley out a bit more, don't you think. After all he's your best friend and you're a close one of mine."

Hermione looked up at her with her big blue eyes as if to say, _whatever you say mummy._

After changing back to jeans and a sweatshirt, she fed Hermione and then decided she would go over a moment and see how Petunia and the two boys were doing.

A delicious smell was permeating the air when she walked over to the house and in an instant, Natasha's stomach growled. That was the one thing she had never been able to master in the one year she had lived as a domestic.

Cooking.

It was the bane of her existence, she just didn't have the patience for it. Some people had talents and hers was cutting other people down to size. Petunia's was obviously cooking.

The pretty blonde opened the door before Natasha even tapped it. "Emma! Hermione, come in. It's too cold to be wandering around outside. I was just getting supper ready before Vernon came home. Would you guys like to stay for dinner?"

Part of Natasha wanted to say no. She had made Thor a promise that she wouldn't go near Vernon, but she had also promised herself that she would keep an eye on Petunia and now that she had Harry she needed to fulfill that promise.

"Sure," she said, pasting a smile on her face and stepping inside. _It's just for a few hours, _she said to herself. _Vernon's an idiot, but he's not so stupid that he would cause a scene during dinner and in front of a guest would he?_

She decided she wasn't going to try and answer that because if she did, then she would try and talk herself out of it, and she knew she couldn't do that.

So Natasha walked into the kitchen and smiled at the two high chairs that had been set up and Harry and Dudley were already sitting in them. Natasha leaned over and kissed both Harry and Dudley on the forehead who giggled and laughed.

"How was the day with two babies?" she asked. Petunia smiled. "I was worried about how tired I might be by the end of it, but it was a breeze. Harry is so well behaved and I was amazed at how well he and Dudley got along. I think they're going to be great friends and I couldn't be happier."

Natasha's smile widened. Petunia was practically glowing. She really was a good mother and Natasha could see that she had wanted more than just one child. Harry was going to be a great addition to the family.

That is, if the walrus didn't stuff it up first.

And speaking of which, there came a sudden bang as the door was thrown open and a loud voice came from the entryway.

"That smells good Pet. It was a great day at work, wait until I tell you –" He stopped when he came into the kitchen and saw Harry in the high chair. Immediately the smile dropped and his piggy eyes narrowed. "Is that freak still here? I thought we agreed that we would be dropping him off at an orphanage! I don't want him and his freakishness around Dudley!"

_Petunia, you better say something or I sure as hell am going to use my fists, _Natasha growled to herself. If Vernon ever so much as came near her daughter because of her "freakishness" as well, Natasha would do more then take his tongue out of his mouth.

"Vernon," Petunia said through her teeth. "We have a guest for dinner. I invited Emma and Hermione Granger to stop by."

Vernon turned to fact the red head and her strawberry blonde blue eyed little girl. Immediately the sickly sweet smile came back onto his face when he saw Natasha's narrowed eyes.

"Of course," he said gruffly. "Petunia we will discuss this later. Let me just go and wash up and we can eat."

He stumped out of the kitchen and Natasha unconsciously blew out a breath of air. Petunia pressed a hand to her forehead. She didn't seem afraid, more annoyed than anything else. At least that was a good sign. As soon as he walked up the stairs and they heard one of the doors close, Petunia got this apologetic look on her face and turned to her friend.

"I'm sorry about that Emma, I need to work with Vernon on his manners."

_You need to work with him on a whole hell of a lot more than that, _Natasha thought. _What kind of person calls their own nephew a freak?_

Petunia seemed to be following the same line because as she looked at Harry, she frowned. "He's my nephew and Vernon has no right to treat him poorly."

Natasha simply nodded and kept her mouth shut. She resolved to do that for the rest of the dinner as she didn't want to make trouble for Petunia, but being around the walrus was grating. Vernon seemed to have a weakness for pretty women and it wouldn't surprise her to find out that her husband was cheating.

Although at this point, she didn't think that Petunia would care, which made her wonder why on earth she didn't leave him.

_It's not as easy as all that Romanov, _she reminded herself. _Petunia told you why she couldn't do that. All of her living family are dead. Where would she go and if Vernon's sister does have friends in power, then trying to leave might get both Harry and Dudley taken away from her. Just be patient, all will be set to rights eventually._

Ω

It was by far the most awkward dinner that Natasha had ever experienced. Vernon didn't say much to his wife throughout it, but he bristled every time Harry made a noise or when Petunia leaned over to put a spoonful of baby food in her nephew's mouth.

"He's going to be such a beautiful boy," Natasha commented, partly because it was true and partly because she wanted to rattle Vernon. The fat tub of lard needed to know that this was for the long haul and he would just have to deal with it.

Petunia, realizing what she was doing, smiled at her friend. "That he is, and he already has Lily's beautiful green eyes. He has his father's hair, but Lily's eyes. You know I was always jealous of her eyes. They were as big and as green as emeralds. I'm going to have to keep him away from all the girls when he grows up, because he's going to be quite the heartbreaker."

By this point, Vernon was sputtering like a tea kettle, his face almost purple with rage. Natasha wanted to laugh. He looked like a cartoon character, she could practically see the steam rushing out of his ears.

He had almost finished with his meal at that point, but he threw down his napkin on his plate, scraped the chair back and stomped out of the kitchen, muttering something about needing some fresh air.

Natasha turned to her friend to apologise for her comments, she hadn't wanted to make trouble, but paused when she saw that Petunia was giggling madly, and had a hand pressed to her mouth to try and hide them.

"What on earth is so funny?" she asked in mock amusement.

Petunia coughed and took a deep breath, getting her laughter under control. "Did you see his face? He looked like he was about to explode!"

"And you're not worried?" Natasha asked in surprise.

Petunia waved off her concerns. "What's he going to do now? Someone else has seen that we have the baby and now that I've made it clear we're going to keep him to a neighbor and friend, he can't do anything about it. He'll bluster and make a fuss, but I'm keeping Harry and that's final."

Natasha grinned, seeing her friend in a new light. "I like this new Petunia," she said taking a sip of water from her glass. "I hope she sticks around."

The evening didn't turn out to be a total loss then. Vernon disappeared into the den and set the television to blaring so he wouldn't have to come into the kitchen and see the woman talking and thus Harry.

At least now Vernon knew where things stood and he wouldn't be causing any kind of trouble. He had been put in his place for now, but Natasha knew he would be making trouble before long again. She would need to keep an eye on the situation, and talk to Ivan.

He was coming by the house to see Hermione tomorrow anyway. Maybe he would know what to do. At least tomorrow was a Saturday. Petunia had already told her that Vernon had some kind of conference to go to and he was leaving early Saturday morning and wouldn't be back until Monday evening.

Three days where she wouldn't have to worry that he would say or do something that would hurt Harry.

When Natasha went home that night, she put it in her mind that she wouldn't let Petunia stay in that situation forever. She deserved better than that and so did Harry and Dudley. They deserved a father figure that was honest, strong, and reliable and who would care about them.

Every child needed that, which was why it sometimes made her sad when she thought of the situation with Thor. He wasn't going to be around every day for Hermione. She knew it wasn't his fault, it was no one's fault, it was just the way things were.

Didn't mean she had to like it though.

Ω

Thor stormed out of the throne room, slamming the door behind him. Would there be no peace?

The Nine Realms had been in a chaos of rebellion for the past three months and it didn't look to be letting up any time soon. At this rate he wouldn't make it back to Midgard for another year and that wasn't acceptable. Hermione was just over a year old as it was. She was probably already walking and he had missed her first steps. He didn't even want to know if she was talking yet because it would mean another milestone that he had missed.

He sighed and ran a hand through his long hair. Being a father from a different dimension was hard. He hadn't seen his daughter in what felt like ages and he wanted to check up on Natasha as well, make sure she was alright. He didn't like being away from her for too long, but he didn't know if that feeling was more for his daughter or more for Natasha.

Everything was just peaceful when he was with them. There were no other rebellions to quell, there wasn't a kingdom to rule or prisoners to make sure didn't escape. There was just Hermione and her beautiful mother who presence somehow seemed to make everything more peaceful.

_Am I losing my mind? _He thought. Loki fell into step alongside him as he left and gave him a knowing look. "You miss them don't you?" he asked and his brother simply nodded.

"I didn't think it would be this difficult, being away from her," he said honestly. "Does it ever truly get easier?"

Loki paused. "As long as the All-father never finds out…..then yes. But you need to continue to pretend no matter how long it takes. If you believe she's worth it…then act like it."

Ω

The following morning, Natasha didn't hear any yelling coming from number 4 so she assumed everything had calmed down for now. Vernon had left on his conference trip and she was amazed at how quiet it was.

At ten in the morning on the dot, the doorbell rang and Natasha hurried to get it, already knowing who it was.

When she opened the door to see Ivan standing there, Natasha smiled and asked him in before giving him a hug and transferring Hermione over to her grandfather. He had been as helpless against her magic the first time he saw her as everyone else had and now tried to make it out to Surrey as often as he was able to see her and her mother.

"There was something that I wanted to ask you," Natasha began tentatively as they sat in the backyard and watched Hermione play with her toys. Natasha hoped she wouldn't do any accidental magic around Ivan because he didn't know about her family history. And she didn't really want him to know, it would only complicate things.

"And what's that?" Ivan asked.

"My next door neighbor, she's a very sweet woman but her husband is a drinker, at least he was when she was pregnant, and he can be verbally abusive. There was one time when she came to my door in the middle of the night because her husband had come home drunk, he was breaking things and there was glass all over the kitchen. When she tried to stop him and get him to come to bed, he swung at her and she ducked, but as she scrambled to get out of the kitchen, she felt and cut herself. Thankfully she didn't land on her stomach and hurt the baby, but it was a close call. I wanted to take her to the hospital but she wouldn't let me because she was afraid of her husband. She seems fine now, but she had recently been asked to take in her deceased sister's son. And while she wants to, Vernon is against it. I don't want her to have to be in a situation like that where she is going to be abused."

Ivan was silent for a moment, having taken in everything she had said. "Does she want to leave him?" he asked.

"I think she will eventually. She already considers Harry like a son even though she's only had him for a few days. I know she loves him and that she wants him and her son Dudley to grow up together in a safe and healthy environment, but given the man she married, I don't know if that will be possible. She doesn't have the means to leave him right now because of the two babies. I'm not sure if she would have the education it takes to get anything better that an administration job and I don't know if it would be enough to support herself and the two boys."

"So what is it exactly that you're asking me Tasha? If she doesn't have the means to leave her husband right now then it appears that she's in a fixed position," Ivan said calmly.

"I'm asking what her options are. As someone who works in global policing, you have more experience that I do about dealing with things like this. Are there any such things in England as safe houses for victims of domestic abuse?"

Ivan thought for a moment. "I don't really know," he said after a while. "That would be something that I would need to check on. I know we have them for witnesses in international cases who have blown the whistle, but I don't know."

They talked some more about it and Natasha did feel a little bit better that Petunia may have some more options then what she did now.

"Now there was something that I wanted to ask you," Ivan said. "There is an opening in our operatives division, espionage sector. Is that still something you want to do?"

"It is, but I wanted to wait until Hermione was a little bit older before I do it. She's only fourteen months right now and I don't want to be halfway around the world and leave her in the care of someone I don't know."

"It's understandable, I just know that being a complete domestic for the rest of your life is not going to satisfy you Natasha. I know you, international work is in your blood."

Natasha laughed. "I know, but Hermione is there also, and work and she are all I care about. I need to know that she will be old enough to know what's going on when I do embark on a job like this again."

The rest of the weekend was peaceful. Natasha spent some time with Petunia and the boys and the three of them seemed to get on wonderfully. Dudley and Hermione already knew each other, but throwing Harry into the mix was changing the dynamic of things. They were now all walking and in the beginning stages of talking. Harry had been a year old when he had been dropped off so he was in the middle when it came to ages with Hermione as the youngest.

Natasha had a feeling that the three of them were going to be thick as thieves when they were older and she was eager to see it. Hermione needed to have some friends and Harry and Dudley would be the perfect fit for her.

Petunia and Natasha were still contemplating the merits of a trip to Diagon Alley to hear more about options for Harry and Hermione. The idea was an intriguing one because they both had some experience in dealing with magic, but not enough that they would know how to handle it completely.

"I keep wondering about the person who dropped Harry off," Petunia said on Sunday afternoon. They were sitting in the back garden with glasses of lemonade in their hands watching as the children played together.

"Did the letter say who it was?" Natasha asked

"It did, it turned out to be Lily's former headmaster Albus Dumbledore," Petunia explained. "I had no idea he was still teaching at Hogwarts."

Natasha frowned. What an odd name. "What kind of person leaves a one year old on the step of a door in the middle of November, in the middle of the night no less and just leave him there to be found in the morning? It would make far more sense to simply knock on the door, despite the time of night, or better yet, wait until the morning!"

Petunia nodded. "He definitely was a strange old bird when Lily was going to school there. I remember he had a lot of names and titles as well as a lot of power but somewhere along the line. I think it all went to his head."

Natasha wholeheartedly agreed. "Anyone who drops off a child on an unfamiliar stoop in the middle of the night is someone needs to have their head examined."

"I agree. But it matters not. I have Harry now and no one is going to take him away from me, not her old headmaster and especially not my oaf of a husband."

Natasha grinned and was about to say something when suddenly she saw something that made her stop cold.

Alongside of Hermione, Harry had been displaying some accidental magic as well. He had been levitating some blocks in the air and Hermione and Dudley were both clapping and giggling as he did it.

And then somehow, Dudley had gotten it into his mind that he wanted to try it. And so he had picked up a block and tossed it into the air. Only it didn't come right away and stood hovering a few inches above his palm. He did it again and the same thing happened and Hermione and Harry toddled over to see what he was doing. Dudley giggled and grabbed two more blocks before tossing them into the air and laughing loudly when the exact same thing happened and all three of the blocks were hovering in the air.

"Petunia?" Natasha whispered, startling her friend. "You might want to have a look at this."

The blonde looked and nearly upset the glass of lemonade in surprise as she stared at what her son was doing.

"That's not possible," she whispered. "I'm not a witch, no one in our family was."

"Except for your sister," Natasha pointed out quietly. "You may not have magic, but she did, and odd as it is, it's not impossible for it to skip a generation. Dudley may be a wizard. Actually no, if he is displaying magic at that young an age, he is a wizard."

Petunia rested her elbows on her knees and buried her face in her hands, speechless with shock while Natasha laughed in delight.

"Well Tuney, I think we've just added on more magical child to the mix."

**And there we have it ladies and gentlemen, Dudley Dursley has magic too! Wouldn't it be awesome if all three of them went to Hogwarts? ;) I hope you guys liked Petunia's portrayal in the chapter because this was how I honestly believe she should have been. Anyway, let me know what you think. See you next time!**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11

It took around an hour for Petunia to calm down after that. No, check that, it took around an hour for Natasha to succeed in calming her friend down, and even when she was calmer, she still wouldn't sit back down in the chair and just kept pacing.

"Petunia, you need to relax," Natasha said calmly, keeping one eye on her friend and one eye on the babies. "This is not the end of the world. So Dudley has magic. If anything he's no longer isolated, he'll have Harry and Hermione around him and he won't be left out."

"That's not what I'm worried about Emma," Petunia said taking a deep breath and fanning herself as she paced. "What's Vernon going to say? He already knows that Harry has magic and he's not at all pleased about it, but when he finds out that his son has magic too, and he will, I have no idea what he's going to do. Suppose he hurts Dudley?"

Natasha paused. "You don't really think he would do something like that to his own son do you? I mean, he's not the nicest person on earth but he wouldn't abuse his own child."

The look on Petunia's face made her nervous. "I don't know how he'll react and that's the scariest thing. I pushed him when I insisted that we keep Harry. But I didn't tell you what happened early yesterday morning before he left for his conference."

Natasha's eyes narrowed and she sat forward in the chair. "What did he do?" She asked, eyes narrowed, voice as deadly serious as a razor. Petunia took another deep breath and it looked like she was trying to stop herself from hyperventilating.

"Harry was playing with one of Dudley's toys while Dudley was still asleep, and I guess Vernon didn't like that because he stopped in the nursery on his way down the stairs. It's lucky I stopped in their when I did because when I came in, he was a few feet from Harry with his hand raised as if he was going to hit him. And I heard him say, "You put that toy down, a freak like you doesn't deserve nice things."

Her voice broke on the last word, and she finally sank down on the chair and buried her face in in her hands. "Oh Emma, I've married a monster."

Natasha didn't reply. She was too busy shaking with rage. There had only been a few times in her life when she had been truly angry, the times when she hadn't been dominated by cold indifference.

And this was one of those times.

The walrus had gone too far.

"What do you want me to do Tuney?" she asked in a voice so quiet, it was almost frightening and cold as ice.

Petunia raised her face from her hands and looked at her friend, cheeks streaked and eyes full of tears. "I want to leave him Emma. But he'll find me, I know he will, he'll take Dudley and I'll never see him again. And god knows what he'll do to me and Harry."

She got up again and picked up the small sable haired little boy with the big green eyes along with his blonde cousin who both squealed when they realized they were being taken from their toys. She kissed the tops of both of their heads and held them close. "I promise I won't let anything happen to you," she whispered. "We'll figure something out."

Ω

When Natasha went home with Hermione that night, she was still cold with rage. It was like a hot poison was rushing through her blood. Her fingers itched to throttle the walrus with every ounce of strength that she had and she had to take a few deep breaths to come down from that point to a somewhat lesser degree of angry.

"How dare that man even be allowed to breathe air!" she snarled as she put a sleeping Hermione down in her crib. "How dare he even be allowed to be near children?! He needs to be locked up and squashed like the miserable cockroach he is!"

"Forgive me, but who is a miserable cockroach?"

Natasha whirled around and was temporarily struck dumb when she saw him standing by the window. His blonde hair was neatly tied back and he was dressed in dark jeans and a deep green shirt that made no secret of the hardness of his body at all, but at the moment, she didn't notice that.

"Oh, it's you," she breathed out, and then without even thinking, she walked up to the tall blonde and put her arms around his neck before resting her forehead against his shoulder.

He must have been surprised as well because he froze for a half second before relaxing and snaking his arms around her slim waist and pulling her closer.

It surprised the red head how relieved she was to see him. It had been months, and she hadn't realized how lonely she was. She was never really bothered by it when she was with the Red Room, but now that she had a baby and that baby also belonged to someone else who, like it or not, she had had an intimate experience with, it was a little different. Natasha genuinely felt deep down, buried somewhere but still tangible, that something was missing when he wasn't there.

She would be seriously hard pressed to admit it thought.

Thor for his part hadn't really realized how much he missed her. But then, war was bound to make one remember the important things in life with far more poignant clarity. And aside from his family, Natasha and Hermione were the most important things in his world.

Contrary to popular belief the god of lightning and storms was very family oriented and when he was separated from them in one form or another, he felt it.

They stayed that way for a long time, because neither of them felt the need to move. It was times like that that Natasha felt a little sorry for her friend. Why couldn't the father of her child have more attributes that were easy to care for? Compassion, humor, gentleness when necessary and strength, were some of the qualities that she was learning to appreciate about Thor.

After a time, he pulled back so he could look at her and smirked a little. "I thought I might ask if you missed me, but I feel that I don't need to now."

Natasha smirked in response. "Don't get used to it."

"Then I'll say it, I missed you," he said and she stiffened in surprise, but after a moment, her face softened into a genuine smile. "It has been a little quiet around here," she admitted. "I think Hermione's missed you too."

He followed her back over to the crib and as soon as he laid eyes on his little girl, what was left of the fatigue in his eyes vanished and a smile like the sun came over his face. He made no move to reach down and pick her up because he was afraid of waking her, but she could tell that he really wanted to.

Instead he reached one hand down and brushed his fingers against her cheek gently. She moved in her sleep at his touch and his smile widened. He looked genuinely happy when he was around her and Natasha couldn't help but smile too. They were kind of like a family. An odd and unconventional one where the parents were a god and a non-practicing witch, but a family no less.

"Now what were you saying about someone needing to by squashed like the cockroach they are?" he asked looking up after a minute and giving her his full attention.

Natasha twisted her hands together and sighed. "My next door neighbor's husband," she muttered and immediately Thor's sapphire eyes hardened. "I thought I asked you not to go near him," he said quietly and for a moment, Natasha had a feeling of déjà vu because they looked a hell of a lot similar when they were angry. It was almost frightening.

"I haven't," she protested. "But Petunia has come into an unexpected…inheritance."

The god raised an eyebrow. "I sense you're being cryptic, yet I do not know why."

Natasha sighed again and decided to get right to the point. "Her sister who she's been estranged from for a few years, recently died and left her son to Petunia to raise in her will. And Vernon is…less than pleased."

"I fail to see what this has to do with you," Thor said.

"Petunia's sister was a witch. I told you about my family and how I'm one as well and by extension, so is Hermione. So given the family history, Petunia's nephew will be a magic wielder like his mother was."

She explained what had happened that morning with Dudley and she saw the blonde's jaw tighten when she told him what Vernon had almost done to Harry.

"Very well," he said. "I can understand your desire to help her. I saw it myself the day we brought Hermione home from the hospital. She seems like a very sweet woman who's simply made the wrong choice and is now stuck in a problem that is going to affect her and her children in the long run."

Natasha spread her hands. "Where are you going with this?"

"I'm saying that I think that you should use every opportunity that you have to help her. But please don't at the risk of your safety. Because it wouldn't be worth it then."

Natasha blinked in surprise. "Okay then. I'll see what I can do. But Vernon is not going to prove easy when it comes to this. Petunia's afraid that when he finds out that Dudley's a wizard he'll do something drastic. And when I heard that he would have hit his own nephew if Petunia hadn't stepped in, I wouldn't put something like that past him."

Thor blew out a breath. "This seems a little more complicated than I thought."

_You think? _Natasha thought.

"So what would you like to do about it?" he asked her and Natasha blinked in surprise. "Me? What do you mean?

He folded his arms across his chest and smirked at her in that way that was both exceedingly attractive and highly irritating. "Yes you. I sense there is something you want to do about this and its almost as if you want to know what I think about it."

He had done it again. Read her like a book without her even having to say really anything. How was he able to do that? No one else could, not even Ivan.

"Alright, so maybe I am," she said finally. "Maybe I want to get rid of the…..walrus for good. Is that such a bad thing?"

"To want to care for your friend?" he asked sitting down on the couch in the nursery. "No, it's not. But you're a mother now and killing your neighbor's husband simply because you do not like him wouldn't be a very wise decision. Knowing you, you wouldn't get caught, you're too good for that, but is that really something you want to undertake?"

Natasha sighed again and sat down next to him. "It isn't particularly high on my list of priorities to off my neighbor's husband. But what's the solution then? I've talked to my adoptive father and he said there are a few options, but only if she wanted to leave him. And right now…..I think she's sort of stuck. She doesn't want to leave because she's not sure where she would go. She doesn't work, has never had a postsecondary education and has no other living family. Her sister, parents and grandparents are all dead and she doesn't know anything about her sister's husband's family."

Thor rubbed the side of his chin. "I suppose, as the mortals say she is caught between a rock and a hard place then."

"I just want to think of some kind of legal situation where she can keep the house, it will belong to her and she can raise the boys away from an abusive husband," Natasha said.

"And so she can stay near here."

Natasha sat up fast and frowned at him. "I didn't say that."

Thor gave her a soft smile before reaching down and taking her hand. "You didn't really need to. I could tell."

Natasha bit the edge of her lip, knowing he had hit the nail on the head. "Is it so wrong to want to have one friend? To want our daughter to have playmates that will understand her? Because that's what I have now. I'm a domestic at the moment, but there's nothing completely wrong that. It's kind of nice to settle down for a while, to have a friend and act like a normal person."

"And you weren't normal before?"

Natasha gave Hermione's father a look. "How is killing people for a living normal? I stole military secrets, know every martial art form and have been genetically altered so I will live longer than a normal human. So no, normal didn't define me at all."

"None of us are what one might consider normal Natasha," Thor said. "I am a god, you are a witch, and Hermione is a cross between the two. We're a family but we are by no means a traditional one."

"It's not only that," Natasha said not meeting his eyes. "For a moment there, when Petunia had Dudley and before her nephew showed up, I believed I could have both. A normal life with my daughter and friends as well as an international career. At least that way, I wouldn't have to worry all the time about missing y-"

She cut off in mid statement, completely shocked by what she had almost said. Fortunately, he hadn't seemed to notice her temporary lapse as his gaze had turned back to Hermione who was still sleeping in her crib.

"You'll think of something," he said.

Natasha took a deep breath. "I really hope so. For Harry and Dudley's sakes at the very least."

Ω

Natasha was relieved when Thor decided to spend the night. He explained to her that time in Asgard was a little different than time on earth. It went a little slower there and right now, his father was in the midst of negotiations with the other Nine Realms, so for right now he wasn't needed.

It had been months since Hermione had seen her father and Natasha had been a little worried about how her little girl would handle the separation. All the anxieties were quelled however when she got up the next morning.

As usual, Hermione had risen with the sun and was eager to play. The moment Natasha walked over to the crib, she looked up with this big smile on her face that said that everything was alright with the world.

"Ma…Ma…Ma….." she said, trying to form the words. Natasha bent down and picked her up, causing Hermione to illicit a small giggle. "Come on little one," she said. "Let's get you dressed. I don't know how long your father's going to be here and we want to spend every minute with him don't we?"

Hermione responded by waving her hands in the air.

When she got down to the kitchen, she was a little surprised to see the coffee machine out on the counter along with the toaster. One of the cupboards was open and she could see the blonde looking inside.

An amused smile came onto her face at the sweetness of the situation. Was he making breakfast?

"I didn't know that you knew how to cook," she said and he turned around, amazing her because he looked a little sheepish.

"I have spent a few months on earth before I met you Natasha, so I did pick up a few things," he said and her smile widened. "Of course you did, it's just hard for me to picture the god of lightning and storms operating a coffee machine and a toaster."

She set Hermione down and bent down in front of her. "Can you walk to Daddy sweetheart?"

The baby girl with the short strawberry blonde curls all over her head looked up with her big blue green eyes, cocked her head at her mother as if to say, _you want me to walk all the way over there?_

Upon seeing that her mother was serious she turned in the direction of Thor who was watching the whole exchange with an indistinguishable expression on his handsome face. Then her face broke into that familiar baby smile and she began to toddle toward the blonde.

"Da…..Da…..Da…." she said, trying to form the words, and Thor bent down and held out his arms. It took about ten seconds for her to get over there and when she did, she tripped on the last step, but her father swept her up at the last second and lifted her up into his arms, pressing a kiss to her forehead before holding her close.

As Natasha watched them, she began to feel her throat tighten. She wasn't a crier, she never had been, but a small part of her felt like this was how things should be. She never worried about how she was going to live the rest of her life as a single mother when Thor was there. Maybe it was because she saw him so little.

As Thor played with Hermione, Natasha knew that she should appreciate the times he was here more, because he wasn't just here for his daughter, he was here for her too. And try as she might deny it, she couldn't help but feel a warm glow when she thought that.

It was then that she noticed the steaming cup of coffee sitting on the counter and headed for it, thankful for the distraction.

Hermione let out a high pitched squeal of a giggle and beat her tiny fists against Thor's chest when he caught her after throwing her in the air.

Natasha took a sip of her coffee. "This is nice," she murmured watching the two of them as they played. Thor looked up at her and smiled and she knew he had heard it. "I know," he said, walking over and kissing her on the forehead. "Why can't things on Asgard be this simple? It has been complete madness up there since I was last here."

"So what's a war in Asgard like?" Natasha said as she tossed some bread into the toaster oven and took her coffee to the table.

Thor sighed and sat down, Hermione still in his lap. "Far worse then what you would call nuclear war here. It's rather hard to describe, but no mortal would be able to survive it. Except maybe for you and those in the same occupation. I have a feeling you would be in an ideal position to succeed."

"Comforting," Natasha smirked, taking a sip of her coffee. Thor glanced down at Hermione.

"When did she start walking?"

Natasha glanced up. "A couple of months ago. There was a toy on the coffee table in the living room that she wanted and I had gotten up to move to the book shelf. She crawled to one of the chairs and used it to pull herself up before she walked across the room. She wasn't even the slightest bit wobbly."

"Well she's a demi god," Thor said looking down at his daughter with. "Everything that will be challenging for everyone else will be simplistic for her."

"I wouldn't go banking on that just yet," Natasha said. "She's just learning to talk and she's having accidental bursts of magic. That's why I'm kind of glad that Petunia's boys are wizards too. She'll grow up with children who understand her."

Thor nodded, understanding the point.

Natasha got up and turned to the window. "I just hope I figure something out soon about what to do with the walrus."

Ω

It was a little bit harder to say goodbye this time. Hermione frowned when her daddy bent to kiss her goodbye as if she knew he was going. And when he had disappeared again, she pointed toward the spot where he had been as if she was trying to ask where he went.

"Da….Da…Da…..," she said and Natasha sighed. "I know, Daddy was here, and now Daddy's gone. I know it's hard, its hard on me too. When you get older you'll understand. Daddy's not a part of this world so he can't be here all the time, but he is a part of you and whenever you need him, he'll be here for you."

Natasha was surprised when later that day, there was a knock on the door and she opened it to reveal a pink cheeked Petunia, sans babies.

"Petunia! Come in, it's cold outside. Where are Harry and Dudley?"  
"I left them by the sitter. I think I've found a lead on this whole Diagon Alley thing," Petunia asked, rubbing her gloved hands together as she stepped inside. Natasha shut the door and turned to face her. "You did? Where is it?"

"It's in London, behind this pub called the Leaky Cauldron. I remembered because I was looking through some of Lily's old school books and I found a map to get to it hidden in the back. I guess they give it to the parents of Muggleborn students so they can find it."

"When do you want to go?" Natasha asked, moving Hermione to her other hip. Petunia reached out and chucked the baby girl under her chin, causing her to giggle.

"Tomorrow. It's already too late to go now and I need to get some more answers on how I'm going to hide Dudley and Harry's accidental magic from Vernon. This weekend has been like a breath of fresh air, I don't have to worry about him barging in the door every night, demanding supper and worried that he's going to do something to Harry or Dudley."

"He hasn't been drinking again has he?" Natasha asked as they stood in the entryway narrowing her eyes.

"I…..I don't think so," Petunia whispered, but those were not the words that Natasha wanted to hear.

"Petunia, if you could stay in that house, keep Harry and Dudley, have your own job, and never have to speak to or see Vernon again, would you?" Natasha asked.

"In a heartbeat," Petunia said earnestly. "I don't want him around my boys."

Then her eyes widened. "Please tell me that you're not thinking of killing him though are you?"

Natasha burst out laughing, although the idea had crossed her mind. "Of course not, that would be far too messy." Petunia laughed nervously, although she looked a little unnerved.

"I was thinking, what if we could use magic to do it?" Natasha asked and for once all the nerves dropped off Petunia's face. "Oh," she whispered. "Do you really think you could do it?"

"I'd have to practice," Natasha said. "I haven't used magic in a while so it would take some reading up on. But I think I could do it. All we need to do is basically erase his memory of memory of you, Harry, Dudley, everything he knows. After that, my father, who works in the British Secret Service, can relocate him somewhere overseas."

She stopped when she saw the hope shining in Petunia's eyes. "You really think it can be done?" she asked. "That me and the boy can really be free?"

Natasha paused. "Before I answer that, I need to know, is there still some part of you that still loves Vernon and doesn't want this to happen?"

"No," Petunia said without hesitation. "I think a small part of me will grieve for the person that he was. But I don't love him anymore. He abused me when I was pregnant with Dudley and he tried to hit Harry when he was barely a year old. He's become someone I don't recognize and the dashing soldier I married is gone. So no Emma, I don't love him anymore."

Ω

With Petunia's declaration firmly in her mind, Natasha dropped Hermione off at the neighborhood sitter the next morning and then she and Petunia took off for London.

The night before, Natasha had called Ivan and asked him, if it was within protocol to relocate someone overseas, and while she hadn't given him any details, he had cautiously said that it could be done.

With that in mind, Natasha had borrowed one of the old spell books that was in Petunia's sister's trunk. She had flipped through it twice at the kitchen table that night until she found the spell she had been looking for, plus a few others that might be helpful.

_"__Obliviate," _she whispered. Not only would this spell erase Vernon's memory of who he was it would also take him out of all of the family pictures and take his name off of all the family and financial documents so it would seem as if Petunia owned everything.

Petunia was nervous, but hopeful about the plan, because if it worked, then all of her problems would be taken care of. Vernon would never bother them again and everything he owned would be left to her.

There were only two problems. The first one was when would be a good time to do it, but that could be easily resolved and the second was whether or not Natasha had enough power behind her spell to render it effective. She hadn't done a lot of magic in the past two decades since her parents, so it was with some trepidation that she opened up the wooden box and took out the cherry wood wand.

It grew warm in her fingers as if it were welcoming her back and that made Natasha both nervous and a little excited. She went through the motions of casting spells with the wand for most of the night. It worked with varying degrees of success. Sometimes the spell would do exactly what it was supposed to and other times all she would achieve was a shower of sparks from the tip of the wand.

It all served to make her little nervous, because if this was unpredictable, she wouldn't be sure of the results when she used it. Well if he put up a fight, she would just have to put him down like the dog he was and when he was unconscious, she would use the spell.

"Are you sure about this Petunia?" Natasha asked as she drove. The blonde turned to look at her.

"Am I sure about what? Erasing my husband's memory or going to the place where my sister became a witch?"

"Well….both."

Petunia sighed in the passenger seat. "I'm not sure of anything at this point Emma. I'm about to become a single parent raising two boys. I wouldn't have it any other way, but the process of getting rid of Vernon is making me a little nervous. Suppose something goes wrong?"

"There's nothing we can do until it actually happens," Natasha reassured her. "We're going to Diagon Alley to learn as much as we can so the children will know what to expect before they go to school. Hermione deserves to be informed and so do Harry and Dudley. Let's just focus on that for the time being."

They found the Leaky Cauldron with little to no problems, but Natasha braced herself as she went in. She knew they were dressed like Muggles so they were bound to draw attention, but she pasted the hard Black Widow indifferent smirk on her face and led the way.

When they walked in, Natasha could see right away it was one of those old world pubs. There were worn wooden tables and chairs on the right side of the room, as well as stuffed animal heads hanging on wooden plaques on the wall. On the left side of the room, there was the bar where a man with a scraggly beard in a dirty apron was wiping down bottles. He saw them enter and turned to the two women with a big toothy grin.

"What can I do for you ladies?" he asked as they walked up to the counter. Natasha gave him a smile that was polite enough to be considered friendly, but tough enough to convey that she meant business.

"Can you show us the way into the Alley please?" she asked and the man nodded his grin never faltering. "Right this way then."

He came out from behind the counter and beckoned them to follow him into a back hallway. Natasha looked a little wary but Petunia's expression was brightening as if she was beginning to remember this place the longer she was there.

When the wall separated them from the rest of the bar area, the bartender pulled a wand from his pocket and tapped the stone wall in a series of successions and then put it away. There was a moment of silence and then there was a hard grinding noise where the bricks in the wall began to shift back to reveal a street beyond that reminded Natasha of a cobblestone street in the Europe of three hundred years ago.

The shops were brightly colored with large glass windows and vendors selling their wares. Natasha saw what looked to be an animal emporium with owls and cats in cages. There was a store where they sold racing brooms and Natasha looked back in her distant memory and remembered her father saying something about getting Antonina the best racing broom that money could buy.

There was a soft smile on Petunia's face as she looked around. "As much as I hated that this world took me from my sister, I did always like this place. It was so bright and alive."

"Welcome to Diagon Alley ladies," the bartender said. "My name is Tom, and I will leave the doorway open for what you come back. Most Muggles are a little overwhelmed when they get here, so feel free to take your time."

Natasha wasn't a Muggle, but she had lived like one for almost two decades so she knew she gave off the appearance. "I'm not a Muggle," she said to him as he turned to go. "But thank you for your concern."

She took Petunia's arm and drew her off down the street before Tom could respond, smirking the whole while as she heard him sputtering behind her.

"Where to first?" she asked. "You know this place better than I do."

"I haven't been here in over five years," Petunia protested. I'm not sure I know the place as well as you think."

Natasha walked past a store marked Flourish and Blotts that was marked with a large quill at the top. "Well we're looking for books," she said and pointed to it. "Why don't we start there?"

They spent the next few hours perusing for books and Natasha was fascinated by how much was there. The Romanov's had a magnificent library back in Russia, but she barely remembered it, and of course, in the fire everything had been burned to ash.

It wasn't until she got up to the counter with a few books on underage spells and charms as well as a few thick manuscripts on wandless magic that she realized she didn't have any money. But Petunia surprised her by coming to the rescue with a small sack of Galleons. When Natasha questioned where she got it, Petunia said she had found it in Lily's old trunk.

Not questioning the good fortune, they paid for the books and hurried back up the street as it was starting to get late.

As they passed the last store to get to the Leaky Cauldron, Natasha looked and happened to see that it was a menagerie. Petunia gave a small sigh next to her and the red head glanced up. "What's wrong?"

Petunia pointed to a beautiful chocolate brown owl sitting in the window. "I always wanted one. Lily had a nice one that she bought on her first trip here and I was so jealous. I thought the pets were the most wonderful parts about that place."

Natasha nudged her. "Why don't you get one then?"

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Yeah right, what would I do with an owl? And what if Vernon sees it, what's he going to say

"Well for starters you could use it to contact the boys when they're away at school," Natasha coaxed. "And we could keep it at my house for the time being."

"That's not for another ten years, they're barely a year old," Petunia countered. "But then she smiled. "If anything it would be nice to have a unique pet. Okay, I'll get it."

Natasha followed her into the store where Petunia asked the owner for the brown owl. She began to wander around and look among the cages, when she came across the cage of a gorgeous storm cloud grey owl. Its head was tucked under one wing and said wings were shot through with black and white feathers.

_Hermione would love this owl, _Natasha thought to herself.

"Did you find something?" Petunia asked from behind her and Natasha turned to see her with the cage with the chocolate brown owl in one hand.

"Oh I was just admiring this one," Natasha said gesturing to the owl. "Hermione would probably love one like this."

Petunia gave her a searching look and then called to the clerk, "I think we'll take this one too sir."

"Petunia!" Natasha hissed. "What am I going to do with an owl? I don't need one."

The blonde gave her a look. "Trust me Emma, I'm doing you a favor. I saw the look in your eyes when you looked at this owl. You want it. And you're going to regret it if you leave here without it."

About a half hour later, they were in the car driving back to Surrey with a pile of books and two cages with hooting owls in the back seat.

There was a funny glow about Petunia's face, and aside from when she was with Dudley and Harry, Natasha had never seen her look so happy. It made her feel sorry for the fact that Petunia wasn't a witch. She would have been a good one.

"You seem to be in a good mood," she observed as they drove. Petunia smiled. "I'm not sure what it is, but even though she's gone, I feel…..closer…..to Lily." She turned to her friend. "Does that make sense?"

"I think so. My sister was a part of this world as well and she died a long time ago. Sometimes I imagine what she would say if she saw me doing the things I am now without her. I wonder what she would think." Natasha mused.

It didn't take long to get back to Surrey even after stopping to pick up the babies from the sitter, and Natasha took the two owl cages into the house and put them up in the spare room where she would be able to deal with them later. As long as Vernon was in the house, Petunia wouldn't be able to keep Aesop with her. It was what she had named her owl. Apparently it had been the name Lily had given to her owl.

Natasha hadn't decided on a name yet, but she wasn't really worried. Hermione was enamored with the beautiful bird and kept trying to reach over to touch it.

"Are you sure you don't want to keep the books with me Petunia?" Natasha asked as her friend was about to take a wriggling Dudley and Harry into the house.

"It'll be alright Emma," I'll just put them in Lily's trunk in the attic. He won't know and everything will be fine."

But it only took Natasha two hours to realize that everything wasn't fine.

Ω

Later that evening, Natasha had just put Hermione down for her bedtime when she heard a sound from next door.

There was the sound of a door slamming and for an instant, she though she heard someone scream. At the sound, she flinched and dove for her wand that she kept in the wooden case on the other side of the bed. Yanking it out, she stuffed it in her pocket, and snatched up Hermione who immediately woke up and stared at her mother with wide eyes.

"Don't worry sweetie," Natasha whispered as she hurried downstairs. "We just have to go make sure that your Aunt Petunia is alright."

After putting on her and Hermione's coat, she locked the door and hurried across the lawn to Number 4.

Just as she got to the door though, she heard the sound of breaking glass and someone whimper. Feeling more alarmed than ever, Natasha reached for the doorknob, only to see with a jolt that it was already open.

"Please just put him down Vernon," I promise he won't do it again!" she heard Petunia cry out from the kitchen.

"You let this little freak in our house, pollute my son and you still want to keep him?!" Vernon raged. Natasha crept down the hall from the front door. As she passed the living room, she saw Dudley in the playpen, standing up, gripping the edge of the bar, eyes wide. She stole in that direction.

"It's okay Dudley," she whispered. "I'm going to put Hermione in with you." She sat the little girl down next to him and whispered a basic protection spell over them. She had been practicing a bit with her wand ever since Hermione was born and some of the spells were actually very useful. When she had finished the incantation, there was a flash at the magic took hold. But just as a precaution, she pushed the playpen behind the couch and out of sight.

"He's my nephew!" Petunia screamed back sounding near tears. "My sister asked me to look after him. What's so wrong about that? Now put him down!"

"No!" Vernon roared. "I'm going to deal with this little freak before he pollutes our lives any further. I should have taken him to an orphanage the day he should up on the doorstep!"

Natasha came around the corner into the kitchen and came face to face with a truly horrifying sight. Vernon was holding Harry upside down by the legs over the kitchen sink. The baby was screaming and his face was red from crying. Vernon had a knife in his hand and when Natasha looked across the kitchen, she saw that Vernon had tied Petunia to the handle of the screen door with what looked like barbed wire as she was bleeding from various places and her arms were cut, the sleeves of her blouse torn. Vernon's face was purple with rage and he shook Harry hard, causing the baby to scream even louder.

"This little freak has already begun to pollute my son, teaching him to do all sorts of freaky things. It has to stop!" he bellowed.

And that was enough.

Natasha stepped forward, and raised her wand. "No," she said in a calm voice as deadly as the edge of a knife. "The only thing that needs to be stopped is you."

At the sound, the both of them turned toward her and when Vernon saw the wand in her hand, his face went from purple to white. He pointed a shaking finger at her.

"Y-You…..you're one of those freaks," he said his voice shaking, piggy eyes going wide. "You're one of them."

"I'm going to stop you right there," Natasha said and if anyone who knew her before was there, they would know that the poisonous Black Widow had returned. "The only freak in this room is you. What kind of person holds a child over a sink full of water threatening to drown him?"

She pointed the wand at Harry and yelled, _"Accio!"_

The screaming child flew out of Vernon's surprised hands and landed softly in Natasha's arms who walked over and handed him to Petunia who had just gotten herself free.

Vernon opened his mouth to start in on a rant, but Natasha didn't let him finish. "You Vernon are the freak and I've had to watch Petunia put up with a monster like you for the past year. Not anymore."

Dursley must have decided that words weren't going to stop her, because he barreled at her as fast as his short legs would carry him. Natasha waited until the last second before casually sidestepping. He crashed into the wall and the picture on it fell off and landed on his head, stunning him temporarily.

Natasha knelt down and pointed her wand at his temple. "Silencio, Petrificus Totalus," she muttered in quick succession. She was glad she had learned those spells particularly. Vernon was famous for his foghorn like voice, and throwing his weight around, literally.

There was fear in his piggy eyes as he looked up at her, but Natasha didn't feel one ounce of remorse. "I want you to listen to me very carefully you pathetic piece of scum, because you're not going to like what happens next. But I don't really care."

She glanced up at Petunia who was clutching Harry. But she didn't look frightened anymore. She nodded at her friend and Natasha glanced back down at Vernon, who was struggling in vain against his invisible bonds.

"You will never terrorize your wife, son or nephew ever again, because after this, you're not going to know who they are. You are going to go somewhere where you will never be able to hurt anyone and where no one will ever see your miserable face ever again."

She glanced up at her friend. "You have anything you want to say Petunia?" she asked. The blonde shook her head. "Nothing at all."

Natasha dug the point of her wand into Vernon's skull as if it were the barrel of a gun and smiled when she saw the panic in his eyes.

"Lights out," she whispered. _"Obliviate!"_

There was a bright flash as the magic took hold, and Vernon stiffened before going limp. There was a breath of silence in the kitchen where Natasha dropped her head and took a deep breath and Petunia wandered over, Harry in her arms.

"He's not dead is he?" she asked and Natasha shook her head, suddenly feeling very tired. "No, he's just unconscious."

Petunia stared down at the body of the man who was no longer her husband for a long moment.

And then, to Natasha's surprise, she brought her leg up in a swift manoeuvre, and kicked Vernon as hard as she possibly could in the ribs, before staring down at him with enough malice and disdain that even the Black Widow was a little impressed.

"That was for Harry you bastard." She glanced up at Natasha. "He won't remember anything?"

Natasha shook her head and brushed off her hands as if congratulating herself on a job well done. "And good riddance."

Ω

**And there we have it! Vernon is gone for good. Don't forget to review!**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12

It took about a half an hour for Ivan and his team to show up. And even then, Natasha was surprised with the efficiency with which they handled everything. She had seen the Red Room show up to dispose of bodies that would be harmful to them, but never had she seen this as the case for an unimportant citizen.

But no one asked any questions and Natasha and Petunia didn't offer them either. Petunia seemed to be still in shock from the ordeal of the night and had gone into the other room with Harry to keep him calm.

Ivan said a few words to Natasha on the way out, but the one phrase that meant the most to her was the one, "he won't be hurting anyone anymore."

Natasha stood by the door and watched as the car bearing Vernon's unconscious body, along with two other agents and Ivan, disappeared quietly into the night. Only when the car headlights turned right at the corner and vanished did she relax.

The red head shut the door and leaned against it for a second before she put the chain on and went back into the living room to see if everything was alright with Petunia.

The blonde was sitting on the couch with Harry and Dudley in her arms. She was rocking back and forth slowly as if to lull them to sleep and as Natasha neared she could hear the now single woman whisper to her boys: "It's alright, it's over. He's never going to hurt us again. You're going to grow up safe and happy just like you should be."

The sight that really made Natasha smile was the fact that Hermione had somehow gotten herself out of the play pen, or maybe Petunia had taken her out and she was standing up with one hand on Petunia's knee, a curious expression on her tiny face. It was if she was trying ask why she was crying without words.

Natasha went in, picked up her daughter and sat down next to her friend who was slowly beginning to get a handle on herself.

"Is it over?" Petunia whispered, looking up from Harry and Dudley. Natasha put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's over, Vernon's gone and he will never be able to hurt you or Harry or Dudley ever again."

The last of the stress on Petunia's face vanished and her whole face crumpled. She rested her head on the tops of Harry and Dudley's heads and began to cry. Long exhausted sobs that tugged at Natasha's heart. It was finally over for her friend who had fought so hard to be strong for her children for so long. She didn't have to be afraid anymore, she could work and find a job and support her two boys without living in fear of a mad man who would come home drunk and hurt her and the children.

She reached over and put a hand on the blonde's shoulder which she promptly grabbed and held on tight to. "What happened tonight to make him react like that?"

Petunia took a few more shuddering deep breaths before she was calm enough to speak again.

"Vernon came home early from the conference, and I'm not sure why. I could tell by the way he barreled in though that he was very angry. I was going to take the boys upstairs to bed so they wouldn't be around for the rage that I was sure was coming, but as I hurried to do so, I slipped on that rag on the floor," she pointed to it, still sitting in the kitchen corner, "and nearly fell. Both the boys would have hurt themselves if something hadn't happened. Right before they hit the floor, they stopped and just began floating in the air. I don't know if it was Harry or Dudley doing it, but I was so relieved that they weren't hurt, that I didn't care. Of course though when Vernon saw this…well that's when all hell broke loose." She picked up a tissue from the box on the coffee table and blew her nose.

"Well know it's over," Natasha said gently. "Vernon's going to spend the rest of his life on a different continent with no idea who you are. He won't be hurting you or Dudley anymore."

Petunia nodded, her smile still wobbly. She reached over and pulled the red head into a tight embrace on the couch. "Thank you Emma. I don't think I can thank you enough. If you hadn't come when you did, I was sure that Vernon would have killed Harry and I don't think I could live with myself if that happened."

Natasha smiled and returned the hug. "It was my pleasure Petunia. After everything he's done to you and the boys…..that bastard got off easy."

Ω

Over the next little while, things blessedly returned to normal. There was no more yelling or crying from next door and Natasha stopped feeling the need to look out of the kitchen window every so often at her friend's house to make sure that she and the boys were okay.

Petunia went back to work as the editor of a small publishing company and was absolutely loving it. The boys and Hermione now had a permanent babysitter and it turned out that Vernon's foghorn of a sister Marge wasn't a problem. It turned out she had had a heart attack and died two days before Vernon went postal in the kitchen with Harry and no one was informed until after Vernon disappeared.

The best part was that because their parents were dead, she had left everything to her brother and his next of kin. And because Vernon was no longer in the picture, all of that passed to Petunia and the boys. Marge's husband had been a successful man before he passed so there was a decent amount of money to be inherited. Petunia and the boys were by no means rich, but they were able to live comfortably and afford to go out to dinner and take day trips every so often. And of course Natasha and Hermione went with them.

The best part was when Petunia came home one day with a dog, a beautiful blue eyed husky that they called Riley. She told Natasha that she was a single woman living on her own and she would feel more comfortable with some physical protection in the house. And she was right, Riley was a fabulous watchdog and took an instant liking to the babies including Hermione as she was there so much.

It was a time of peace and quiet. Hermione and the boys were now walking on their own and talking in two word sentences and it was quiet funny to watch them tumble around the backyard in the snow on Riley's back while the dog barked and tried to shake them off while Petunia and Natasha watched and laughed uproariously.

The only small flaw with the current peace was the absence of Hermione's father. Every so often, Natasha would pull the pendent he had given her out of her bedside drawer and look at it for a few minutes. She knew better than to worry about him, he was god and so couldn't be killed really by any means that she would deem deadly. But it didn't mean she didn't feel the absence of him at times. She knew he would have been so proud of Hermione walking and talking and running around the way she was with her head full of strawberry blonde curls bouncing.

One of Natasha's favorite things about her daughter though was her laugh. It was just one of those things that would burst out of her like a trumpet or a spring of water. It was loud and high pitched and sparkling like crystal clear water in a pool on a summer's day. She was so smart and picking up so many things.

Her, Harry and Dudley were slowly beginning to be aware of the things that they could do and Natasha and Petunia poured themselves into research to understand how best to keep their children's abilities a secret. So far they had only been doing magic at home, but there was no guarantee of how long that would last and Natasha wanted to be completely prepared when it happened. She and Petunia had been discussing the merits of sending the children to Hogwarts and while they both agreed they wanted them to have a place to hone their magic, they also agreed that a Muggle education was important as well.

Doing both was going to be difficult though. If they sent them to Hogwarts, they would be away for ten months of the year, so getting a Muggle education as well would take some juggling.

Fortunately there was still time to make some decisions as they had only just turned one. Dudley's birthday was first and it was a quiet affair with just his mum, Harry, a barking Riley and of course Natasha and Hermione.

It had been around eight months since Vernon had "vanished" and life couldn't have been better. There was a glow back in Petunia's eyes that Natasha had never seen before and a confidence as well that was refreshing to see. She smiled and laughed a lot more and all in all, seemed to have a zest for life that was in short supply when the walrus was still a permanent resident at Number 4.

But now? She was a tornado of activity and energy. There was nothing she didn't want to try and she always seemed to have something funny to say. She, at Natasha's prompting went back to the gym and took classes and was beginning to look like a younger version of herself.

Natasha for her part kept up with her own private training. But there was something that was beginning to eat at her and she wasn't sure if it was something that she should listen to or disregard for her own safety.

She had been a permanent resident in Surrey for about a year and a half and Petunia still didn't know who she really was, she didn't even know her real name. She had no idea why Natasha had really come to Great Britain, to get away from her former place of employment and have Hermione in safety. She had no idea that Hermione was a demi god or that her father lived in a different realm that no human had ever seen. She didn't know that Natasha had been an international assassin for a decade before having Hermione.

And Natasha was a little worried of what would happen if she told Petunia the truth. She knew her friend wouldn't reject her after the Vernon problem, but she might be a little more wary and Natasha didn't want the natural relationship that they had to change or for Hermione's relationship with the boys to change in any way. They were a little over a year old and they were already best mates. It didn't matter that they could barely talk, the red head knew that they would have a long and mischievous friendship.

In the meantime, while she thought about the ramifications of telling Petunia about her real self, Natasha began to seriously contemplate the time of going to work with Ivan and the British Secret Service. She was itching to get away from the desk job at the dentist's office. While Dan and Jean were sweet people, there was only so much normalcy that Natasha could handle and having a kid was quite enough for her. At the moment, all she could do was train and hope that soon she would be able to resume doing the work that she loved.

It had been about eight months since Vernon had "died of a heart attack" according to the neighbors. Petunia had played the part of a dutiful mourning wife for the first few months and they had even had a small funeral with a small headstone and everything to give off the image of a family grieving the loss of its head.

Yeah right.

Petunia was a better actress than Natasha had thought and she completely had the other neighbors fooled when they showed up with food to ask if she was okay and to ask if there was anything they could do for her or the boys. Petunia always gave them the same watery smile that she was famous for and that she had almost fooled Natasha with when she had first gotten here. She somehow had this look that was completely genuine and could convey sorrow and everyone bought it much to her glee and Natasha's amused disbelief.

Almost a year after Vernon Dursley checked out for good, Natasha began gently encouraging her friend to go out and maybe start dating again. Petunia just laughed and said that she had a job to do and two boys to raise and a house to manage, she didn't have time to be thinking about men.

Natasha however, could tell that her friend was lonely. She had been robbed of the chance for real romance by the walrus and she deserved the opportunity to find someone that would give her that. Petunia would only simply smile and say later, always later. And Natasha was no expert on romance herself. The only people she had known that exhibited any true form of romance were dead and she had never had the opportunity to experience that herself. She didn't have what one might call an ideal relationship with Hermione's father and while it was healthy and they were friends…both of them would never admit to potentially wanting something more, she still didn't really know what it meant to have a relationship with someone who wasn't running around doing espionage assignments and using her fingers as lethal weapons like she was.

Oh well, it was something to be considered for the future at the very least.

Thor had told her that there would be times when he wouldn't be able to visit, and she had fully expected that when they brought Hermione home from the hospital. He was a god and had numerous other duties as a prince as well. His visits would be minimal and she was surprised that he had managed to steal as much time away as he had. When she had questioned him about it so many months ago, he just smiled and said that someone was covering for him.

His brother no doubt.

Also during that year of peace, Natasha had taken some time to look into Hermione's father's origins. What did exactly did it mean to be a child of the god of lightning and storms?

She also took the time to look up his family as well. Loki was the trickster and while mythology had depicted him as jealous of his older brother and loved to constantly play pranks on him, when she asked Thor, he had just laughed and said that mortals were very ignorant of the workings of the gods and not to believe everything she read.

That had been a year ago.

Now Hermione was about to turn two and she hadn't heard from him in about twelve months. She wasn't worried but she did miss him a little bit. It did sometimes get a little lonely in the house at night. Days were fine because she was working and preoccupied with Hermione and other things but at night there was always too much time to think and her thoughts did wander a bit.

Things seemed to be in a state of normalcy and while it was nice, the red head couldn't help but think that it would only be a matter of time before something happened to shake things up once more.

And she was right.

Ω

It was a rainy fall evening in late September when something happened that neither of the friends and neighbors were expecting.

Natasha had been invited with Hermione to Number 4 as she so often was during the weeks. She and Petunia had gotten a lot closer since the departure of Vernon and the proximity of their living spaces only facilitated this.

It was raining cows and pigs outside, so the red head decided to wait it out to see if it would stop before she ran home with Hermione.

The fire was burning in the hearth and the babies were looking out of it themselves. Petunia put a fast asleep Harry and Dudley down in the playpen. Natasha followed suit with Hermione who was looking like she was pretty out of it herself.

They had just settled down on the sofa with a cup of cider for Natasha and a mug of coffee for Petunia. Natasha hated coffee and with her advanced metabolism, she really didn't need it, so it was where they differed. It was thundering outside of them but neither of the friends minded as it was just nice to relax after a day out.

Petunia opened her mouth to ask something when all of a sudden there was a loud thump from outside.

The blonde flinched. Natasha frowned however, listening carefully, as that certainly didn't sound like thunder. It was too close and wasn't the right sound. In fact, it sounded as if it had come from right outside the front door.

Petunia's face had gone pale and Natasha knew what she was thinking. The Vernon had somehow broken through the spell and was back with a vengeance. That this would be the end of the year of peace and it would go back to terror from here on out.

But that was impossible. However Natasha did intend to see the spider in the middle of this web.

They both got up and quietly hurried to the door.

"You don't think it's burglars do you?" Petunia asked looking a little nervous. Natasha gave her a look. "Burglars don't generally come to the front door Tuney."

Petunia took a look through the peephole and frowned when she saw that there was no one there. "I don't see anyone," she said turning back to her friend. "Maybe it was the wind."

Natasha frowned and shook her head. "It was too loud and too close to be the wind, look again."

Petunia shrugged and looked through the peephole again and suddenly gasped.

"What is it?" Natasha asked.

"Emma, there's a man outside," Petunia whispered. "But he's lying on the doorstep. He looks as if he's unconscious!"

The two of them hurried to open the door and sure enough, Petunia was right. Lying on the doorstep was a man that was utterly drenched. He was tall with thick curly dark hair and a tan face. There was a cut on his forehead, but other than that, there didn't seem to be anything else wrong with him. He was dressed in dark clothes and had no possessions in his hands to speak of which was even more strange.

The two women exchanged glances, knowing that they couldn't just leave him out there for the neighbors to see and gossip about in the morning. And so between them, the managed to succeed in dragging him inside. He wasn't particularly heavy like one might expect a man of nearly six feet to be, but he wasn't light either.

"Maybe he was drunk and thought that this house was his," Petunia whispered as they looked at him lying on the carpet in the entryway after they had shut the door.

Natasha bent down and breathed in before looking up at her friend and shaking her head. "He's not drunk Tuney. I can't smell any alcohol on him. He might have been hit in the head or came out of the wrong end of a mugging, but he's not drunk."

Petunia's concerned look intensified. "I should call an ambulance then, he might need medical attention. Down Riley." This last statement was directed at the large husky who had come to the door of the living room to see what the commotion was about and had his eyes fixed on the strange man lying in the hallway. The dog's lips were pulled back from its teeth, a quiet growl emanating from his throat.

Natasha knew right away that it must be relieving for Petunia to have some form of protection. Riley was a demon when he was angry and she knew that his first priority would be Harry Dudley and Hermione if they were threatened.

She was about to agree with the assessment about the hospital when she noticed something sticking out of the strange man's pocket that made her pause.

"Petunia? I would hold off on that call to the hospital for a minute," she called out and the blonde came to the door of the kitchen holding the cordless phone in her hand. "Why? He might be seriously hurt."

Natasha reached into the pocket and pulled out the object she had seen, holding it up for the blonde to see as well. "Because from the likes of this wand…I don't think that a hospital is gonna do him any good."

Ω

After about ten minutes of deciding what to do, Natasha took away the mysterious man's wand and used her own to levitate him to the couch where she bound him to it both magically and physically. Magical bonds would only work to an extent and she needed to make it difficult and unappealing and borderline painful for him to want to be untied.

After that, she and Petunia had a conversation about what to do with the children as keeping them in the house with a strange man was certainly unappealing. Petunia took the three babies upstairs and put them to bed and locked and bolted the door.

Natasha dragged a chair from the kitchen into the living room and placed it right across from the crouch at an angle so if the strange man did awaken, she would be the first thing he saw when he woke up.

As she watched him and how still he was, she was now surer than ever that it was a magical malady he was suffering from. His skin was paler than ever and there was a sheen of sweat on his cheeks and forehead that suggested he was running a fever.

"Any change?" Petunia asked coming back into the room. She had a blanket thrown over one arm and a pillow in the other. Natasha shook her head. "No, and I don't think he's going to wake up any time soon either."

"Why not?" Petunia asked, setting her bundle down on a nearby chair. "He just looks unconscious."

Natasha still had the strange man's wand clasped between her hands and she was slowly rolling it back and forth as if she was waiting for an interrogation to start. But this time, she held all the cards. He wouldn't be able to make a move without her first calling out what it was.

"I've only seen this once when I was seven," Natasha said calmly. "There had been some kind of war going on in Russia before my parents died and my uncle showed up on our doorstep in the middle of the night in much the same manner that this guy here is," she said gesturing to him.

"We took him in and he was like this for several days. The only proof we had that he was alive was that he was still breathing. I don't remember much about it except for the fact that he was very still. He didn't move and he had the pallor and perspiring complexion that this guy does. And one of the phrases that I remember my father whispering to my mother was that he was in a magically induced coma." She enunciated each word carefully, hoping one of them would job something in Petunia's memory.

The blonde bit the inside of her mouth and Natasha could tell that she was thinking carefully about something. Then all of a sudden, she turned and hurried back out of the living room to the stairs, mounting them two at a time to the second floor.

"Where are you going?" Natasha called.

"To the attic," came the reply. "I think I saw something in Lily's old school trunk that might be able to help us."

Within the span of five minutes she was back, carrying a thick dusty textbook in her arms that was bound with a leather strap and had a lock on it the size of Natasha's thumb.

"What is that?" the red head asked.

Petunia plopped the book down on the coffee table with a thump. "I remember Lily talking in her last year of school about how she wanted to be a healer at this magical hospital. She said something about her boyfriend wanting her to be an Auror, whatever that was, but she wanted to look after people. And that meant a lot of studying. So she had to get a lot of specific books from Diagon Alley about magical medical condition." She pointed to the book. "And this was one of them."

Natasha looked at the title and the rapidly fading golden letter embossed into the brown leather front. "A Guide to Magical Maladies," she muttered under her breath before glancing back up at her friend. "Good idea Petunia, because if this is a magically induced coma, this could tell us how to bring him out of it."

"Thanks, but why are you so convinced that it's magical?" Petunia asked. "Why couldn't it be something like a head wound?"

"Because there's no blunt force trauma anywhere on the skull," Natasha explained patiently. "I can't smell alcohol anywhere on him so that either means that he has some type of medical condition or it's a magical condition, and he's lying as still as if he were dead, but he's still breathing on his own and its deep even breathing. So let's rule out magical maladies first and then we can get to Muggle conditions."

"I better go make some coffee," Petunia muttered. "I don't think either one of us is going to get any sleep tonight. Thank god it's a Saturday tomorrow."

Within a few minutes she was back with the warm drinks and the two of them got to work right away.

Natasha hadn't had a lot of time to read any books when she was coming up in the Red Room, and had read even less magical ones, but the textbook on magical maladies was one of the stalest things she had ever read. She could tell it hadn't been updated in at least a century, but for wizards that was normal. And the thing was covered with dust, as soon as they flipped open the cover a cloud of dust came up to greet them which led to a few seconds of coughing.

The next hour yielded no results on what the ailing the mystery man. Petunia would get up every so often and fetch a wet face cloth from the hall closet and carefully wipe the sweat from his face and hands. She did it so gently, taking care not to cause any discomfort and as she did so, she observed something about him. In a way he looked a little familiar. Lily's boyfriend James had been very popular and had many friends when they were in school and she absently wondered if this man had been one of them. He was ruddy and handsome even when he was unconscious as well as well-built and strong looking. He looked about her age, maybe a few months younger.

_I wonder what your name is, _she thought to herself. _And how on earth did someone magical get this far from that world?_

She moved his hand to place it back on his stomach where it had been before and blinked in surprise when the sleeve of his coat fell back and she saw a curious tattoo on the underside of his arm. Turning his hand more fully so she could see it, she examined the marking closely.

It was an image of a skull with a curling snake coming through one eye socket and out the other. A strange emblem to have printed on one's skin she thought, and a little unnerving too. It obviously meant something…..but what?

"I think I found something," Natasha said, the lapse in silence momentarily startling Petunia for a second. "What is it?"

Natasha leaned forward and placed the heavy textbook on the table, turning it toward her friend so she could see.

"Contrary to what we might think, there aren't a lot of magical things that can be done to someone to put them in a coma. One of those things is called a Drought of Despair. It brings on overwhelming feelings of hopelessness and depression and if someone takes too much, they can die. However I wanted to know if there was a possibility of someone taking enough that it would put them in a coma, and that's when I discovered something else."

She turned the book back towards her and flipped forward a few pages before stabbing a section of the right page with her finger. "It appears that there is a reinforced wall around the magical core of each and every witch and wizard and when too much magical pressure or trauma is sustained by the witch or wizard, this wall around their core will send a signal to their brain, ordering it to shut down. Essentially it's a like a computer going to sleep. In order to save himself, his core shut his body off so it could heal and protect itself."

"Does it say what will wake him up?" Petunia asked, still processing all the information she had been given.

"I haven't found anything on that yet," Natasha said looking back down at the book. "But now that we know it's a magical malady, it should narrow things down a lot more."

Petunia glanced back at the unfamiliar man lying on her couch and felt a touch of sorrow for him. She wondered what had caused him to drink something so awful. Had he wanted to commit suicide?

But if he had, had it been necessary to resort to such…dramatic…measures? And what did it all mean? Why had he shown up on her doorstep of all places? First Harry and now him? Was her doorstep becoming a place where the orphaned and oppressed could come hoping that she would show them some kindness?

The thought gave her a wry smile.

"Hey Emma, there was something that I found that I wanted to show you," she said turning and the red head looked up from the textbook. "What's that?"

Petunia gently peeled back the sleeve of the man's jacket so the tattoo was unveiled, revealing the bizarre looking mark.

Natasha frowned and got up off the couch and came over to get a better look. "What the hell?" she whispered as she turned his wrist over so she could get a better look at the mark.

"Does that mean anything to you?" Petunia asked, watching her friend closely. She knew Natasha had been practically a Muggle since she was nine years old, but she was still magical, it was in her blood and there still might be things that she would know.

Natasha for her part was having a strange sense of déjà vu. She had never seen a tattoo like that before but something about it was reminding her about that awful day so long ago. The day when Grindelwald had come to visit.

He had been a fan of marks too, especially snakes. She knew he had never gone to Hogwarts and she didn't know if he was dead or not, but she wasn't going to waste any time on revenge now. She had a daughter to look after and a life to run so that wouldn't be the proper course of action.

But something about it was jogging a memory deep inside of her and she couldn't reach it yet but she would soon enough.

"What's this?"

Natasha blinked and glanced down at her friend who had reached into the man's pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief. She wanted to smile, her father had carried around something similar to that as far back as she could remember. He had always used it to wipe off his wand after performing a spell and he had told her to always keep her wand clean as it would perform better that way.

All of a sudden though, she caught sight of something.

"Hold on a minute," she muttered and reached down to take the handkerchief from Petunia. Sure enough, she was right in seeing something because in the right hand corner of the piece of white cloth, right above the embroidered lace were three letters. Initials.

"What is it?" Petunia asked.

Natasha studied the cloth for another minute before responding. "Tuney I think we just found a clue as to who our mystery man is."

She turned the item over so her friend could read it for herself. And there, in the bottom right hand corner were three small letter embroidered in black thread.

Having a hunch, Natasha walked back over and picked up the wand she had left on the table by the textbook.

Sure enough, down at the bottom of the handle were the same three letters. She turned it around for Petunia to see.

"These are the initials, R.A.B," she said calmly. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Ω

**How's that for a cliff-hanger? Can I get a show of hands, does anyone know what R.A.B stands for? Anyone? Ha! For those of you who do, yes I went there. I freaking went there! Things are gonna be craaaaaazy! I hope you guys liked this chapter, I know it was kind of boring up until the last bit, but I felt that Petunia deserved a break. Anyway, don't forget to review!**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13

Needless to say, no one got any sleep that night after discovering the clue of their mystery man. Natasha and Petunia stayed up into the wee hours of the morning, looking into a cure for the Draught of Despair, but the only thing that turned up was that before coming out of a magically induced coma, the witch or wizard affected had to feel safe enough to open their eyes.

Whatever the hell that meant.

They took turns sleeping while the other kept an eye on the mysterious man, but other than the clues: R.A.B, nothing else turned up about his origins.

When the sun finally rose, Petunia was exhausted and Natasha was feeling a little tired herself, although she knew she would get over it quicker.

"Emma, I can't do this another night," Petunia said. "If we don't find out who this guy is by tomorrow, than we may have to take him to a hospital and drop him there. I don't feel right about it but, I don't feel comfortable having someone we've never seen before around the kids for any longer than necessary."

"I agree, this is getting a little frustrating."

All of a sudden, Petunia's tired eyes lit up. "Wait a moment, I have an idea," she said and hurried up the stairs again. There was a banging sound which conveyed that the trap door to the attic was open and then some fainter banging which she could only take to mean that the blonde was looking for something.

Natasha looked back a man lying on the couch.

"I don't know buddy," she muttered. "Seems to me, you're almost more trouble than you're worth."

A moment later, Petunia hurried back down the stairs with another large book in her arms.

"What on earth is that?" Natasha asked straightening up.

Petunia said the large book down on the coffee table with a decided bang. It was even bigger than the one on Magical Maladies."

"The summer before Lily's seventh year at her school, I remember Mum asking her what her least favorite subject was. And she said it was history of magic. Her least favorite part was learning about all the old pure-blooded families because there were so many and the offspring of them all went to her school. They were a bunch of stuck up snobs and she hated them. But the book had something like a genealogy of all the pure-bloods in Britain and if this guy is a member of one of those families, then I'll bet he'd been in here."

Natasha shrugged. "It's worth a look I guess and if he's half blood or Muggleborn then I guess we're out of luck."

Petunia pushed open the heavy dust filled cover as this book hadn't been touched in at least four years. There was a thick red ribbon in the middle of the book and she opened to that page, smiling as she realized she had hit pay dirt.

There, and taking up several pages was a complete list of the different families in magical England and their history.

It took about an hour of searching and surprisingly, no pureblood they found so far had the initials RAB, but it wasn't until they reached the page, Most Noble and Most Ancient Hour of Black, that any progress was made.

"Wait a minute!" Natasha exclaimed, stabbing a finger on one of the pages. "Look at this Tuney!"

The blonde leaned over to look and saw where she was pointing to a specific branch of the Black family. Under the names Walburga and Orion Black were the two names, Sirius Orion Black…and Regulus Arcturus Black.

R.A.B.

"This is it!" Petunia said excitedly, "this has got to be him! I haven't found any one else with the initials RAB in this book of genealogy."

"Regulus Arcturus Black," Natasha murmured to herself, not really paying attention. Because she was a pureblood, her father had educated her and Nina on the many different pureblood families in wizarding Russia, but there were times when he had told her about the other pure-blooded throughout Europe.

And the name of Black had come up once or twice.

Why was this only ringing a bell now?

"This has got to be him Tuney," she said. "We've discovered our mystery man."

Ω

Of course it was one thing to narrow down this strange person's identity and a whole other thing to wake him up to tell him what they knew and ask how the hell he had gotten here. Places where one could find the draught of Despair were really in an abundant supply around Surrey and Natasha had only been told about such potions when she was younger.

"So what do we do now?" Petunia asked as they stood over the body of what they now knew to be Regulus Black.

"All we can really do now Tuney is wait and see if he wakes up. There's not much he can do without this," she said holding up his wand.

"So the two friends and three babies cautiously went about their Saturday. They never strayed too far from the house and Petunia wasn't entirely comfortable with being too far away, if Regulus were to wake up and try to escape before they found out anything.

Riley stayed particularly close to the toddlers on that day.

Petunia decided that she didn't want them around when the strange man awoke and so she sent them over to the baby sitters for the day so only she and Natasha would be the only one's around if Regulus awakened.

Riley, seeing that the babies were safe, opted to stay with Petunia.

It wasn't until about five that evening that things began to get interesting.

The two women were cleaning up some mess in the kitchen that the babies had made before leaving when suddenly there was a thump and a muffled yell from the living room.

Petunia threw her dish cloth down and hurried into the other room. A few seconds later, she gasped quietly, and Natasha looked up, startled.

"What is it?" she asked hurrying in.

Petunia was standing a few feet before the couch where the strange man was now lying, very much awake. His eyes were wide open and he was looking increasingly confused and surprised about why he was lying wandless and bound on a couch in some stranger's house.

It seemed to dawn on him that he wasn't alone for he twisted his neck around and caught sight of them almost as soon as they entered the living room. His eyes widened and since they hadn't chosen to gag him, he could still speak.

"Who…..who are you?" he stammered. "Where am I?"

Petunia and Natasha exchanged glances and both went to fetch chairs. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

"Ah well, first of all, you're in my house," the blonde began. "My name is Petunia Dursley and you showed up on my doorstep last night, completely unconscious."

"How did I…" he trailed off, still in a bit of a daze. "How did I get here?"

"Well that's kind of what we'd like to know," Natasha said. "I'm her neighbor by the way."

"Well I suppose I should introduce myself," he said slowly. "I'm Regulus, Regulus Black."

"We know," Natasha supplied and when he looked at her curiously, she gave him a bit of a smirk. "I'm a witch too. Petunia's not, but her sister was so she does know a little bit about the magical community."

Regulus looked at her suspiciously. "Your accent is curious. You're not originally from Great Britain are you?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow, a little impressed. "No, in that regard you would be correct. I am originally from Russia. My surname is Romanov."

Regulus's eyes widened and he attempted to sit up but didn't see the restrictions and the ropes held him down firmly. "But the Romanov's were said to have died out some years ago. They were the last of the wizarding royalty in both the Muggle and magical worlds. I remember hearing about it years later."

"I am the last," Natasha said calmly. "And I've been living in the Muggle world with my adoptive father ever since. That's essentially why everyone thinks the Romanov line died out."

Regulus looked around the sparsely decorated room curiously. "I've never been in a Muggle house before," he said. Then he glanced down at the ropes binding. "Do you mind if I sit up? I don't bite, I promise."

The two women exchanged glances before Petunia went up to untie the knots.

"May I ask why on earth you chose to drink the Draught of Despair?" Natasha asked once they were all seated again and immediately Regulus grew guarded.

"How did you know about that?" he asked.

Natasha smirked at him. "I'm a witch and a pure-blood remember? I learned about it when I was younger."

That wasn't entirely true, but he didn't need to know that.

All of a sudden, he seemed to remember something and brought his hands to his chest, searching for something. When he didn't discover it, there was a moment of panic, but then he seemed to remember something and relaxed.

"Is everything alright? Petunia asked uncertainly and Regulus blinked.

"Yes….yes…I didn't happen to be carrying anything on me when you found me did I?" he asked and they both shook their heads. "Other than your wand and the handkerchief in your pocket that let us know who you were…..no."

Regulus saw his wand still in Natasha's hands and she slowly gave it back to him. There was a moment where they looking into each other's eyes, weighing the other's intentions. Both of them were wary but after a moment, Natasha slowly handed it over

"Thank you," he said quietly.

"Now how did you end up on my doorstep?" Petunia asked and he shrugged.

"I honestly don't know, the Draught of Despair…it kind of makes you hallucinate. I didn't really have much of an idea of what was going on."

"But where would you even find something like that?" Natasha continued. "It's not as if such things are available for purchase around the Surrey area."

"Let's just say I had to do it in exchange for something," Regulus explained vaguely. "Something of great worth."

"What could possibly be worth nearly dying?" Petunia asked and Regulus smiled at her sadly. "Many things Mrs. Dursley. Many things."

Ω

It was by far one of the most bizarre days Natasha had even had since coming to Surrey and that was including the day Thor had shown up in the delivery room, when she and Petunia had dispatched Vernon once and for all, and the day they discovered that Dudley had magic.

After giving Regulus back his wand and telling him a little bit more about who they were, he slowly began explaining a little bit about what had been happening in wizarding Britain in the last few years and how he had ended up like he did.

They told him that Voldemort had died a year and a half ago after over extending his reach and dabbling in magic that he didn't know much of and for a moment, Regulus looked relieved, but then a storm cloud came over his face.

"He's not dead,'he will come back."

When they asked him to explain, he said he would, but not yet.

Petunia ensured that he spent the rest of the day there, seeing as how he was still weak and it wouldn't be a good idea to apparate until he was sure he was better.

They also learned that he had gone to Hogwarts as well and had been placed in Slytherin house. Regulus had liked his house, but Dumbledore didn't do much for Slytherin's acceptance to the rest of the school and from the way Petunia talked, it didn't seem as if she trusted the headmaster as well.

_Dumbledore was a power hungry manipulative bastard if I ever saw one,_ he thought to himself.

Dumbledore hadn't been the greatest headmaster to Hogwarts as he favored certain students, chose them for special tasks, meant to be dangerous and complicated as a means to prove themselves and if they passed, then they had been recruited into his little group. He explained that his older brother Sirius had joined this group, the Order of the Phoenix, upon graduation and the two had never spoken again. He of course had become a Death Eater, but after a few months, he realized he didn't have the stomach for killing and the lifestyle sickened and disgusted him, so he had tried to get out. He didn't explain about the Horcruxes though, not yet.

It amazed him that this was how things had ended up. He had been told the prophecy right before he had left the Death Eaters in search of the one Horcrux he knew how to get to and when Kreature couldn't drink anymore of the draught, he had taken it up himself. Once they had seized the locket, he told Kreature to take it back to Grimmauld place so it could be destroyed, and slowly rowed back to shore. He had had a feeling he was going to die and so he ordered Kreature to leave the cave and destroy the locket as quickly as possible and to not come back.

After that…..well he didn't really know what had happened, but a lot of time must have passed because when he had woken up, he was still very weak and when he had tried to apparate back to Grimmauld place, he had passed out again and ended up on Petunia's doorstep.

Regulus had always had interesting opinions about Muggles. His mother and father had been blood supremacists who had drilled into them the importance of sticking to his own kind as it were. Sirius had been the black sheep of the family and had been emancipated at fifteen years of age, soon after moving in with the Potters. So Regulus hadn't really had much contact with Muggles.

There were times when he remembered Siri talking about this girl his friend James was interested in…..Lily Evans, and she had been Muggleborn. Regulus remembered her. She had been one of the prettiest girls in his brother's year and there had been an awful lot of lewd talk in the Slytherin common room about her, despite her "dirty blood."

She was the only example of what he had to go on in terms of being a Muggleborn. But she hadn't been so bad, a little self-righteous maybe as in his private opinion, it was his friend Severus that she should have ended up with, but she was halfway decent none the less. But then she had ended up with that fool Potter after they had graduated, which was by far the most dysfunctional match he had ever seen. If they didn't end in divorce or one of them killing the other, most likely Potter dying, than he would be hugely surprised.

But as he sat there on the couch in the home of Petunia Dursley along with her neighbor Emma Granger, he couldn't help but think how blissfully…normal the life of a Muggle was.

There was just something about sitting in that little house with the scent of coffee and spiced apples in the air that created a warm feeling in the pit of his stomach that he kind of liked. Grimmauld Place, despite being his home for his entire life, had been cold and very unfeeling. His mother had been dead for a few years, but he hadn't been back to the place since it and before his unfortunate cave adventure.

There was just something eerie about walking those halls and seeing all the portraits of his dead ancestors who had all met horrible demises that made his skin crawl. And to make matters worse, there was a room in the basement where all the heads of the house elves his family had decapitated were when they got too old to serve.

He had stumbled upon that room one time as a boy and hadn't been quite the same since. It was then that little voice inside began to whisper to him, telling him that maybe his family wasn't quite as right as he had thought that they were.

Still he had gone with his previous ideas and joined the Death Eaters upon graduation. However it wasn't long before he realized that this wasn't what he thought it would be and wanted out.

It made him glad that he had been "dead" when Voldemort had fallen, and the only remnants of that part of his life was that abominable tattoo on his arm that was beginning to annoy him something fierce. Emma asked what it meant and he told her that a long time ago, he had pledged his service to what he thought was a great man. But that it had nearly cost him his life and that this mark had been a symbol of his service.

She looked at him carefully and it surprised him when there were moments where he found her kind of intimidating. She had said something about her living in the Muggle world since she was nine years old after the death of her parents.

Petunia was another aspect all together. She was an exceedingly sweet and kind woman, a mother of two boys. She had had an abusive husband who she, with the help of Emma, kicked out of the house a year previously. Regulus was a little impressed with the way they had done it.

"So may I ask what you're going to do now?" Petunia asked as the day wore on and they realized they had spent the last few hours talking.

They were alone now as Natasha had volunteered to go and collect the babies and keep them at her house for the time being.

"I…..I don't know," Regulus replied honestly. "The home I grew up in wasn't really ideal and I don't really want to return there."

"Is it close by?"

He laughed. "When I'm using apparition, everything about the world become much smaller."

"Of course, I had forgotten."

She was charming for a Muggle, but he was slowly beginning to realize that there weren't many differences between them. She was a hard worker and determined to protect and provide for her family. She was sweet as well and very compassionate as well for not many people would have taken a strange man into their home. Normally, they would have called for someone to come and take him away without ever seeing if he was dead or alive.

That she had done so, spoke volumes about her, and despite her being a Muggle, Regulus was beginning to feel drawn to her.

"I know, we don't know each other very well," Petunia said, "but this is something I feel I should ask."

"Yes?"

She took a deep breath. "My sister told me that there were some people in the magical community that were extremely prejudiced towards people without magic, or people that weren't from long magical lines, and I just wanted to ask…..were you one of those people?"

Regulus was quiet for a long time and she could see the turmoil on his face as well as the shame that was beginning to gather in his eyes.

"To my humiliation…yes," he said. "I was one of those people during my school days. I didn't think for myself and I followed my parent's expectations. I wasn't exposed to very many Muggles or Muggleborns, but the ones I did come across in school were always brilliant and they always worked harder than anyone else to get ahead. For example, there was this girl in Gryffindor, a red head named Lily Evans, and she-"

He cut off when Petunia gasped. "What is it?"

"You knew Lily?" she asked pressing a hand to her mouth and he frowned at the shock and the way her eyes began to glisten. "Well not really, I knew of her. We were in different houses and during that time, those houses didn't generally mix. But I did know her name and what she looked like. She was always in the company of one of my friends, Severus Snape. Why? Did you know her too?"

"Lily….Lily was my sister," Petunia whispered. "She died about a year and a half ago. Her nephew showed up on my door step the following morning with a note that said she had been killed by some dark wizard named lord Voldemort-"

She stopped when Regulus winced. "What?"

He shrugged sheepishly, "It's kind of bad luck to say his name aloud."

Petunia rolled her eyes. "Good lord, the man is dead, he won't be showing up to curse anyone any time soon. As I was saying, the note asked me to take him in and I did so without questioning it, but now I'm wondering who exactly it was who took charge of him first."

"That sounds like Dumbledore," Regulus sneered. "I never liked him. He favored every other house but Slytherin and since the dark lord ended up coming from our house, all the other houses distrusted us."

"I never really liked the school in general, but he was one of the reasons," Petunia agreed. "And to think that he was the one who left my nephew in a basket on the doorstep in the middle of the night….. "I'm amazed that he didn't freeze to death as it was the middle of November."

Having been pretty out of it for the past year, Regulus didn't know the prophecy that predicted that Harry would be the one to defeat the Dark lord, so there wasn't anything to say on that.

But as the evening dragged on, it became increasingly clear that Regulus was tiring again, and Petunia didn't have the heart to send him away like he was so that night, and the night after that, he slept on the couch in the living room.

Harry and Dudley came back home and were a little curious about this strange man who was sleeping on their couch.

The following morning, Regulus awoke to find an odd warm weight on his chest and opened his eyes to find that Harry and Dudley had somehow gotten themselves downstairs and were now sitting on top of his chest on the couch looking at him curiously. Harry reached out and began to pat his face with his tiny hand.

Regulus blinked in surprise as this was one of the oddest situations he had ever been in. Both babies could walk, but they had to balance holding on to things so he wondered how on earth they had gotten up onto the couch themselves.

"Er…..hello," he said, and Dudley giggled and clapped his hands. They didn't seem to be afraid or in any hurry to move because they just sat there, making it so in order for Regulus to sit up, he had to hesitantly put his arms around them to make sure that they didn't fall off of him and slowly sit up.

But when he did so, he realized he had been holding his breath and slowly let it out in relief that none of the boys had fallen. He didn't drop his arms from around them though, and he would later wonder why. Dudley waved him arms and hit his hands down on Regulus's arm, causing the young man to chuckle.

They were awfully cute kids, and while he did feel extremely nervous about being alone with them after only seeing them once the night before, but…..it was kind of fun as well.

Looking at them carefully, he was able to tell which one Dudley was as the blonde haired blue eyed one looked remarkably like her, and the black haired green eyed one must have been Harry, her sister's son.

She had mentioned in passing that they were both magical as well and would be going to Hogwarts when they were older.

Looking into the blue and green eyes, he wondered what they were thinking. Harry giggled and clapped his hands together just looking at him and it suddenly occurred to Regulus that they wanted to play and from the way they weren't moving, they wanted him to play with them.

It was crazy, and something he had never done before, but he set both babies down on the ground and having spied one of the blankets on the ground with their toys on it, he pulled it over to them and set the boys on it so they could play.

About a half an hour passed like that in which Regulus completely forget about the time, the past or where he was. Nothing else, but watching Harry and Dudley play.

Was this what it felt like to have a child? Where it seems like every time they do something, you're in awe and when you watch them, you lose yourself in wonder? These weren't even his kids and he had barely known them twenty four hours, yet he felt like he could just watch them for a whole lot longer.

It was only when he looked up and saw Petunia standing in the doorway in her dressing gown with an amused expression on her face, did he realize how much time had passed.

"Petunia!" he said quickly getting to his feet. "I…..well you see…..when I woke up…I don't know how they got downstairs…but when I woke up they were sitting on top of me and they wanted to play."

Petunia laughed at the flustered expression on his face. "It's alright," she said. "It must be the accidental magic, it's been getting stronger lately and Emma and I have been looking for ways where we could teach them about their magic at home before they go to Hogwarts, although they've never magically moved themselves from one place to another."

"My mother told me I did that once when I was a baby," Regulus said. "I had left one of my toys outside and because I could see the yard from my bedroom window, I wanted it back. I was only two at the time and somehow I got outside to get it."

"It wasn't cold out I hope," Petunia said smiling at the thought.

"Oh no, but my mother wasn't very pleased when she found me."

Petunia laughed softly, then her expression sobered. "How are you feeling?" she asked carefully.

"Much better, I think I'll be able to go home today," he said and then shuffled his feet before mumbling something else.

"What did you say?" Petunia asked. "I didn't hear you."

Regulus looked up at her, and his expression was surprisingly earnest. "I said, would it be alright if I came back sometime? My parents are both dead and my brother, well…I'm not really sure where he is. It….it is kind of nice to know someone's looked after me. It means I'm not as alone as I thought I was."

He glanced up from that rather poorly put together explanation to find her with a soft smile on her face.

"I'd like that," she said quietly. "And from the looks of things, it appears that Harry and Dudley will to."

Regulus glanced down at the babies to find them smiling up at him.

He was in for an interesting ride after that.

Ω

It happened slowly, but then became more of a frequent thing.

Regulus apparated home, and waited a week before sending an owl asking if it was okay that he come and see her and the babies.

She sent a reply back almost immediately asking why he didn't bring it up early and of course he could come.

He showed up looking rather shy, and Petunia could see that right away she was going to have to educate him on how to dress like a Muggle as the robes he had on would not cut it in her neighborhood.

She had invited Natasha as well and the three of them spent an enjoyable evening just talking and getting to know one another better.

The funniest part was when Regulus saw Petunia and Natasha taking time to feed Dudley and Hermione and decided that he was going to help out and try to feed Harry.

The result was a bowl of mashed carrots on top of his head, and a lot of laughter as well to match it.

But as the days turned into weeks and Regulus began coming around more and more frequently, Natasha noticed an odd thing happening.

Petunia began to glow.

Not in one of those ridiculous ways where she would physically light up a room the moment she walked into it, but there was almost always a smile on her face. She would hum constantly and whenever Natasha went over to see her, there was music playing and the windows were open.

Most women would say that Petunia had all the luck in the world that a good looking man had landed on her doorstep and had taken an interest in her, but in Natasha's opinion, her friend deserved every bit of good luck she was getting. Vernon had robbed her of her own fairy tale ending and now she was just finally starting to get it back. Just in backwards form.

And Thor?

Well he hadn't been around since Hermione's second birthday. And even then he was only able to drop in for twenty minutes, which annoyed Natasha to no end. Not because of anything he did, but the things that kept him from seeing his daughter. Apparently, the war in Asgard was still going on and fiercer than ever.

There was a tired look in Thor's eyes the last time she had seen him and it worried her a little. Hermione seemed sadder than usual when he left and Natasha worked hard to distract her.

Fortunately, Harry and Dudley were doing a good job of that.

Regulus for his part had never been around babies before, being the youngest and all, but he found that there was something soothing about it. His parents were dead and he had no other living family, so he was hungry for contact. He had been looking into the disappearance of his brother but so far no one had told him anything.

It was a little frustrating that everyone was being tight lipped and the only person who would speak freely with him were Petunia and Natasha.

It didn't seem to matter to him that Petunia was a Muggle and Petunia was thrilled to finally have a man about the house.

Harry and Dudley and Hermione who were finally talking had taken to calling him "Unca Reg" which Petunia found adorable.

For her part, Natasha liked Regulus. He was good looking, smart, charming and had a fierce sense of loyalty. Already she could see Petunia warming to him and him to her, and she had a feeling it would only be a matter of time before he would become a permanent fixture at Number 4, and she couldn't be happier for Petunia.

Of course, this only served to make her wish more that Hermione's father would make an appearance. Hermione was two and a half and it had been a while since the blonde had seen how much she had grown.

The last time he had been here, Natasha had insisted upon taking a picture of him, a small snapshot where Hermione would at least be able to see his face. There were times when she would take it out and show it to her daughter and Hermione would point to it, and say "Dada."

Natasha would take a deep breath and then dread the questions that Hermione would inevitably begin asking when she grew older. Questions like, where her dad was, how come all the other children she saw had fathers and she didn't.

_Thor I know you're a god and you exist in a dimension not of this world, but if you don't make time for your daughter and soon, I swear to all the powers above and below that I will find a way to come to Asgard and make sure you never have any children ever again!_

Fortunately she was distracted from that line of thinking by an idea that Regulus brought to their attention a few weeks later.

Petunia had invited him over for dinner one Tuesday evening which was hardly out of the ordinary. It had been about a month since he had shown up on her doorstep and the three of them were getting along famously.

Hermione seemed to have taken a liking to Regulus as well and now it seemed to be a competition between her and the two other boys of who would occupy his attention the most. Natasha could see that it shocked Regulus, but he was pleased all the same.

She was helping Petunia set the table when there was a knock on the door, and the blonde hurried to answer it, revealing a breathless Regulus.

"Is something wrong?" she asked as she let him in.

The younger Black took off his coat and shoes and put them on the mat and rack indicated before following her down to the kitchen.

"Yes and no," he said when he had seated himself. He said hello to Natasha and she did the same. While she and Regulus got along and he was good for Petunia, there were times when she still wondered about him. He had secrets just like her and that made her a little wary inside. He had grown up with magical secrets and she with Muggle secrets, but they were secrets all the same.

Once they had sat down, Regulus launched into what he had found out earlier.

"I've been looking back into the family history and searching for my brother since I've been back to the house," he began. "I had forgotten how much their actually is to once you're not lying comatose in a cave somewhere." They all chuckled but Natasha could tell that there was something else on his mind.

"I found out that my brother was wrongly accused of murder, and was sent away to prison about eighteen months ago without a trial."

Petunia gasped and Natasha raised her eyebrows. In the Muggle world, that would never fly. It was seen as a grave injustice to not be tried before a judge and jury.

"Go on Reg," she said quietly and he sighed and leaned back in his chair knowing that this was going to be a long story.

Ω

_The wind rattled earlier as Regulus was rowed across the bay to the massive prison of Azkaban. It was a cold unforgiving wind, much like the place he was going to and unconsciously he shivered and tugged the cloak he was wearing tighter about his shoulders. _

_The man rowing him out there saw the clenched expression on his face and gave him a toothy grin. _

_ "__Never been to Azkaban before young master?" he asked in a rough gravelly voice that reminded the young Black of sandpaper. _

_Regulus shook his head and faced the fortress like prison that was rapidly becoming clearer on the horizon. "No, and I hope I never have to again."_

_It wasn't long before the boat landed at the small dock and the man tied the rope to one of the posts._

_ "__When you conclude your business, I'll be waiting to row you back young master," he said and Regulus nodded in thanks. He pulled the hood of his cloak up and stepped ashore before hurrying to the massive stone doors of the prison._

_Azkaban was one of those places where the sun never seemed to shine and if there appeared a shaft of light anywhere, the Dementors would suck it out. He patted his left pocket absently where a bar of chocolate had been carefully stowed, thanking every star in the heavens that he had remembered his defence lessons from third year and knew the properties of chocolate and Dementors._

_The guards led him up to the third floor and down a long stone corridor where the windows of each cell were open to the outside world so the prisoners could see out but not escape. It was an interesting way of torturing each prisoner, as if the Dementors weren't enough._

_ "__Cell 613," the guard ahead of him said and stopped. He raised his gloved fist and banged on the cell door which issued forth a clanging noise that rang like a gong throughout the whole place and Regulus cringed despite the fact that there weren't any Dementors nearby._

_ "__Look alive 613," the guard barked into the cell. "You have a visitor."_

_He retreated to the end of the hall and stood at attention until Regulus was finished so he could escort him back to the boat. _

_The pathetic looking creature huddled on the threadbare mattress on top of a rickety cot was dressed in rags. His hair which had once driven the girls at Hogwarts crazy because it was thick and curly like a movie star's was now greasy matted and hanging in tatters about his face. The skin on his visage was so pale he appeared like a ghost which only made the black eyes peering out of his sockets even more prominent._

_It was those eyes that widened even more when Regulus dropped his hood and faced his brother for the first time in years._

_ "__Hey Siri," he said grinning as the tall figure of his brother uncoiled itself from the bed and hurried as fast as he could over to the bars of the cell in disbelief. "It's been a while."_

_ "__How in the hell…." The voice of Sirius Black trailed off. It had grown weak with the amount of time he had been yelling and crying out since he had arrived in that place about a year and a half ago. "Reg…..you're supposed to be dead!"_

_ "__It's nice to see you too Siri," the younger Black said folding his arms across his chest._

_ "__How are you alive, I thought you had been killed a year ago on some sort of assignment for the…dark lord."_

_When Regulus didn't answer right away, the silence seemed to implicate him._

_Immediately Sirius's eyes grew suspicious. Are you here on assignment Reg? I know the Dark Lord's gone, but you're not following after our insane cousin are you? Is that the reason you're here?"_

_ "__Look I'll admit, I haven't made the greatest choices," Regulus said and his older brother snorted in agreement. "And I've been comatose for the past year after finding something that would bring down the dark lord."_

_Immediately the suspicion disappeared from Sirius's eyes and curiosity appeared a moment later. "What is it?"_

_ "__It's too dangerous to speak of here now," Reg whispered back. He took a look around the cell and prison with distaste._

_ "__How the hell did this happen Siri? How did you get here in the first place?"_

_Sirius growled and it amazed Regulus that his older brother still could given all that he had been through._

_ "__I wasn't the Potter's secret keeper," he said through clenched teeth. "It was Peter Pettigrew. He's the one that betrayed them to the Dark Lord and when I confronted him about it on that street full of Muggles, he screamed that I was the guilty one before blowing up the entire street and, killing twelve Muggles and disappearing into his animagus rat form and going down into the sewers. I don't know where he's been hiding out, but I'm going to find him, and when I do-"_

_ "__Hold on a second," Regulus interrupted. "You weren't given a trial? That's not legal and they basically took the word of you being a murderer from someone who disappeared a moment later because no body was ever found except for a finger?!"_

_Regulus was livid. He didn't think he had ever been so angry in his life. Despite their differences in the past, Siri had been his best friend and protector when they were kids before Hogwarts. _

_ "__Reg, calm down," Sirius said and his brother whirled to face him. "I am not going to freaking calm down Siri! There has been a grave miscarriage of justice and I want to see it being handled correctly!"_

_ "__It won't do any good Reg, no judge is willing to examine my case or look into the facts of what happened a year and a half ago."_

_Regulus stopped pacing and faced his brother, calming himself somewhat. "Look Siri…..I'm sorry. I haven't been the greatest brother to you. I didn't think for myself when it came to the things that Mum and Dad were telling us and it all blew up in my face. I nearly died because of that mad man Riddle, and I'm not going through that again."_

_Sirius looked a little contrite as well. "Well as long as the apologies are being offered, I have one to give to you as well. I should've fought harder to make sure we stayed close. Sure we were in different houses, but that didn't matter. I'm your older brother and I should've looked out for you. I'm sorry Reg."_

_Regulus grinned at his older brother. "Well, you've been the one who's done the protecting for most of our lives. Now it's my turn."_

_ "__What are you talking about?"_

_Regulus leaned closer to the bars so his brother could hear him and quickly checked down the hall at the guard stationed there, but fortunately he wasn't paying any attention._

_ "__If no one's going to look at your case, then we're gonna have to break you out of here. "Maybe that's what it takes to get them to take this seriously."_

_ "__Are you out of your mind?!" Sirius hissed. "No one's broken out of Azkaban before. It's not possible!"_

_ "__There's a first time for everything," Regulus whispered confidently. "Look Siri, you've been locked up for over a year and I've been practically dead for about a year. It's about damn time for a change and you and I both need it. I'm going to bust you out of here and when you're hidden then we can look into clearing your name legally. At least you'll be free to do it."_

_ "__You know this is the craziest idea you've ever had right?"_

_ "__So crazy, that it just might work."_

Ω

"So essentially, you're going to break your brother out of a high security prison on an island where there are plenty of guards, as well as creatures that can suck out your soul?" Petunia asked. She didn't know much about Dementors, only what Lily had said in passing a long time ago and she still shivered whenever she thought about it.

Regulus shifted a bit. "Well…yeah."

"That's insane!" the blonde burst out. It's near impossible to break someone out of a muggle prison and you want to break someone out of Azkaban? A place crawling with magic users and Dementors?!"

"Petunia-"

"No! This is nuts! There has got to be another way." She cut off and glanced suspiciously at Natasha who had started smiling for some strange reason. "Why are you grinning Emma?"

Natasha threw back her head and laughed. "I'm smiling because this is something that actually sounds close to what I did before. Ever since I had Hermione, I've been itching to get back to the work that I did before."

"You didn't break people out of prison for a living Emma, you were in the army," Petunia pointed out and Natasha smiled indulgently.

"I also helped steal military secrets and rescue hostage victims Petunia," she said indulgently. "I'm probably more qualified then Reg here to break someone out of prison."

"So what? Are you saying you want to go with him to break his brother out?" Petunia asked sarcastically.

Natasha glanced over at Regulus who was looking at her smiling tentatively.

"You're actually considering it!" Petunia exclaimed. "That's insane!? What about Hermione? Suppose something happens to you and Regulus and you get caught? Who's going to look after her? Dan's gone almost twenty four seven and the last time you saw him was six months ago!

"We're not going to get caught Tuney. Remember I'm a witch, and what I can't avoid magically, I can using the Muggle technique."

"Wait a minute, are you sure about this Emma?" Regulus asked. "You'd really do this for me?"

Natasha shrugged. "You're my friend Reg and you've proven to be a good one ever since I found you on the doorstep of Tuney's house. I think it's time I got back into the game. Hermione can stay with Tuney for the time being and you can I can go to Azkaban. Obviously we need to have a well thought out plan first but if it were my sister locked up in there for a crime she didn't commit then I would want my friends to help her clear her name as well. The least I can do is do the same for you."

"You're both insane!" Petunia exclaimed.

"Did you have any ideas about how to do it?" Natasha asked, ignoring her friend as that was sure to piss her off.

"Not really," Regulus replied. "I was hoping you guys might have some."

"Well first we need a plan that's as damn near full proof as well can get it and then," Natasha leaned back in her chair and grinned at Petunia's furious expression. "We bust your brother out of prison. After that? Well…that's when the fun really begins."

Ω

**Okay, so I felt like there were parts of this chapter that were a bit rushed but I honestly didn't know how to slow it down. From here things begin to pick up a bit and I think we're all a little bit glad about that. So don't forget to review and tell me what you think of Regulus and Petunia together as well as the idea of busting Sirius out of prison. As far as I can see, all the fanfics I've red have been where he's either legally cleared, or he breaks himself out. I don't think I've ever seen one where someone on the outside breaks into the prison to free him, so I thought it would be really cool if I did something like that! Enjoy!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Okay so fair warning, I was so excited about this chapter that I had to get it out early even though I updated not too long ago. The next few chapters are going to be pretty crazy. Hold onto your hats folks because here we go!**

Chapter 14

Harry Dudley and Hermione were best friends. And because they were best friends, there was this game they liked to play when the snow came that was affectionately referred to as "Hide and Seek with Riley."

What they would do, is go out into the snow and bury themselves in the whiteness and wait for Riley to come and dig them out. Being the three year olds that they were, they couldn't really bury themselves properly so a boot would inevitably end up sticking out, or the top of their hats, or a gloved hand, even sometimes a little nose.

And Riley, being the protector that he was, couldn't lie down and rest at the end of the day, knowing that the three toddlers weren't in the house. And so he would go out and look for them. It wouldn't take him long to find them, and when he did, he would dig them up and start licking their faces until they giggled and got up onto his back where he would promptly go and search for the next baby.

They liked to play this game for hours, and sure enough as the sun went down in the backyard, the three of them could be seen in their enormous snow suits being dug up by a large husky.

He had found Hermione first, and the little girl had toddled over to the doorstep and looked up at her mother who pushed the sliding door open.

"Mummy?"

"Yes Mione?"

"Wiley found me."

"I can see that Mione. Are you cold? Do you want to come inside?"

"Not yet Mummy, Wiley not found Hawwy and Duddy yet. I needs to go help him."

"Well go on then and find them. When you're done come inside and get warmed up."

"Yes mummy."

She turned around toddled back out to help the husky find her two best friends.

Meanwhile Petunia was banging dishes in the kitchen sink and muttering to herself about harebrained ideas that would get them all killed.

"Penny for your thoughts Tuney," Reg said cheerfully from the kitchen table. Petunia snapped the dish cloth and whirled to face him. "I will give you a whole fortune for my thoughts Regulus Arcturus Black!"

_Oh no, here it comes. Remember Black, you asked for it, _Natasha thought smirking.

"Sometimes I am very glad that I don't have magic because then I wouldn't be persuaded to pull ridiculous stunts like this! Do you have any idea how difficult its going to be for two people to break into a maximum security prison that's guarded by soul sucking monsters? And yes, Lily did tell me a bit about Azkaban a few years ago. There are countless guards, monsters and Dementors on every level! How on earth are you and Emma going get through all that, not to mention that the place is on an island and protected by every ward known to man!"

She was getting a bit red in the face and she stopped to take a breath, so Natasha seized the moment to jump in.

"How do you know we plan to get in magically Tuney?" She asked. "What if we used the Muggle way?"

Now Regulus looked confused. "What are you talking about Emma? How else are we going to get in if we don't use the magical means?"

Natasha grinned at him. "Reg, I've lived in the Muggle world since I was nine years old and trust me when I say this, when the magical method fails, the Muggle one holds true. Now here's my plan."

She sat down at the kitchen table and explained the ideas that had been mulling over in her head since dinner to both Regulus and Petunia. When she was finished, they were both silent for a moment, before Petunia go up in a huff. "I still don't like it," she muttered before going back to the dished, but Natasha knew that for now, that was all the protestations she would make.

"You really think it'll work?" Regulus asked, sounding a little awed.

"Most witches and wizards think that Muggles are at best an oddity and at worst inferior. In this case, the Muggle technique will succeed where magic fails."

"Well I'm in," Regulus said slapping the table. "Anything to get my brother out of the hell hole we call a prison."

"Good, then come to my house at noon tomorrow and we'll get started."

Ω

When the doorbell rang the following afternoon, Natasha grinned and went to answer it. Poor Regulus had no idea what he was getting himself into because she was about to give him a crash course in Muggle fighting.

He smiled at her when she opened the door, and she was glad to see that he was wearing the clothes Petunia had picked out for him. Robes really were too conspicuous in this neighborhood.

"Are you ready for this?" she asked as she led the younger Black down to the basement.

"Of course I am! This is going to be a piece of-" The word died in his throat as he took the last step down and came into the light of Natasha's basement.

In truth, it wasn't so much a basement as it was a training ground. Natasha had taken the liberty of expanding it with magic and then filling it will obstacle course, a shooting range as well as a small pool. There were times when she had had to do underwater stealth reconnaissance and the Red Room had had special water crafts for that.

The walls were lined with weapons of every size and shape. The windows in the basement were blacked out so no one could see in and Natasha had warded the entire place with magic so if anyone ever did break in, all of these deadly weapons would be protected.

"Um Emma?" Regulus asked in a small voice. "Remind me again, what exactly did you do before you moved to Surrey?"

Natasha looked at him and grinned. He looked as if he had stepped into an alternate reality were Muggles were even deadlier than witches.

"I was in the army Reg, but the special forces which means me and my team were in charge of doing the jobs that the regular soldiers couldn't and defusing bombs, and firing guns was one of those jobs."

"Damn."

"Don't tell me you've never seen guns before Reg?" she asked cheerfully as she made her way over to the shooting range. Regulus followed after her, still looking around at everything. "I'm torn between saying this is amazing and being afraid."

"Well good then," Natasha said as she picked up a Glock 49. She strode over to one of the high shelves and removed a box of ammunition from the top. She had also warded the basement so there was no way that Hermione would ever get down there.

She loaded the gun and then pushed a button. Immediately the lights dimmed and the target of the human chest became more visible as a single spotlight illuminated it.

Regulus looked confused when she handed a set of ear muffs. "What exactly do these do?" he asked as he watched her put one on, and then did the same.

"They protect your ears."

"Why do my ears need-"

He was cut off for the second time because Natasha raised the gun and fired three rounds in quick succession. The first time he jumped about a foot in the air. When she stopped shooting, he tore off the ear muffs. "What the bloody hell was that!?

Natasha grinned at him and hit the controls on the wall that would bring the target closer to them so she could demonstrate something to Regulus. When it came, she walked over and he followed to examine the target. Ever shot was dead center.

She turned and looked at Regulus who was looking a little awestruck. "Reg, when you can do what I just did and do it every time you fire a gun, then we can go and break your brother out of prison. The muggle way is the only way this going to work. They'll be prepared for wands, they won't be prepared for guns."

"So," she held out the gun to him so he could take it. "Are you in?"

Regulus hesitated for a moment before his eyes hardened and he took the gun from her proffered hand. "Damn right I'm in."

Natasha grinned at him. "That's my boy."

Of course, it took him a lot longer to actually follow through. Natasha had to first teach him how to hold it, then to fire blanks so he would get used to the sound and then in the afternoon, she taught how to actually fire at a target.

"Now obviously none of the guards are going to be standing still, so you're going to have to learn to fire at a moving target, but we'll get to that," she said.

She could tell that Regulus was getting a little frustrated though. "This is harder than I thought it would be," he said at the end of the day. "Are you sure all this is necessary?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Do you want to break your brother out or not?"

"Yes."

"Then this is what we have to do."

She was actually a little impressed by how determined he was because he showed up the next day at exactly the same time, ready to go. Natasha had him work on his target practice again and again and it took a few days before he began to fire with accuracy and not flinch when the gun went off.

"I have one question though," he asked.

"What's that?"

"The sound this makes is incredibly loud. Aren't the guards going to hear it and come running?"

Natasha grinned. "No, because we won't be using these specific guns, we'll be using silencers which means that it'll still fire the bullet, but it won't make a noise."

"Then what was the purpose of me learning to fire a regular gun?"

"Because it's necessary that you not be afraid of these things when you use them Reg. They're weapons that can kill but their also tools, and it's important to have a healthy respect for them before you use them."

"I never realized how smart Muggles were," Regulus said thoughtfully as he carefully loaded the gun again. "I mean you can dodge a killing curse, but there's no possible way that you can dodge one of these."

"No, there's not, which in my opinion makes Muggles far more dangerous than witches or wizards will ever be."

"I think I'm beginning to believe that."

It took about a week for Natasha to be adequately convinced that Regulus was no longer afraid of the guns and firing them with accuracy at a standing target as well as a moving target.

"We're not trying to kill here," she would remind him so if you hit them enough to stop them, that's fine. But you'll be doing most of the magical work since you're better at that, and I'll be doing most of the Muggle since _I'm _better at that."

"Sounds good to me."

The next step in the plan, was somehow finding a map of Azkaban that would allow them access to the prison in an expedient manner, and that proved to be the most difficult part of the process so far.

Petunia, Natasha, the babies and a disillusioned Regulus had to make several trips back to Diagon Alley to look in old bookshops in Knockturn Alley to ensure they could procure such a map. Their persistence paid off however after two weeks of searching. The map they found was old and yellowed and about to fall apart, but it was usable. The owner of the bookstore was an absent minded professor type who didn't even know there was a map of the famous prison in his store and they didn't tell him. Natasha simply purchased the book they found the map in and they left.

After studying the map extensively, Regulus noticed that there was a small column of piping exiting the prison and emptying out into the bay area for drainage as well as a garbage shoot. It appeared extremely old in the map, but it looked large enough to fit two people in single file if they crawled on their hands and knees.

With that settled, the two of them began to make plans for just how they would get to Azkaban as any wizard standing on top the ramparts could see anyone coming from a mile away. Plus the fact that the prison was on an island off the coast of England in the ocean did cause some difficulties in terms of accessibility.

Petunia still wasn't happy with the idea to break Sirius out of prison, but she knew that Regulus and Natasha had reached a stage where they weren't going to listen to her and so she shut her mouth and fumed quietly to the babies.

Because Harry, Dudley and Hermione were now walking and talking, they were very curious about what Natasha and Regulus were doing. ermHe

Hermione had in fact asked on a number of occasions what they were doing and Natasha simply responded by saying that their Uncle Regulus's brother was in trouble and that they were going to go and help him.

"Mione help too," the little girl said stubbornly and Natasha laughed before bending to kiss her on the cheek. "Alright sweetheart, you can help, you can help by keeping Harry and Dudley out of harm's way until we get back.

"Yay! Mione help!" the little head full of strawberry blonde curls bounced as she hurried off to keep Harry and Dudley "safe."

Regulus's training continued with increased vigor, and Natasha was beginning to be slightly impressed with the younger Black. He didn't seem to be afraid of guns now and that was good because there was the increased chance he was going to have to use them when they got to Azkaban.

Meanwhile, Natasha had been looking into potential transportation to Azkaban and had concluded that the only way they were going to get there undetected was by using the water. It was too far to swim, even with scuba gear, but as Regulus continued his training, an idea began to percolate in her mind.

She had quit her job at the dentist's office and a few months ago and taken Ivan up on his offer to have her work with the British Secret Service and they had all kinds of transportation, by land, air or sea. And it was this that she was particularly interested in.

On her first day there, Ivan had given her a tour of the facilities and she had to admit, that they were impressive.

There was a hanger off the coast of England where the BSS had their underwater crafts and Natasha had happened to spy a small three man submarine that would suit her and Regulus's needs perfectly. There was a seat in the front for the driver and two in the back to man the right and left guns on either side of the craft. It looked almost like an airplane but without the landing gears and it had an odd kind of dorsal fin that stuck out of the back where the engine and back up propellers were in case the internal system failed. It had thick glass windows on the front so the driver could see out and two windows on the right and left sides in the back to the gunmen could see out. The BSS agents called those particular crafts, the SHARCs.

As part of her basic training, she had to learn had to operate one, it wasn't a big deal, she had learned to operate something similar when she was with the red room and Natasha found that assignments where she had had to travel by water were her favorite. There was just something so certifiably badass about coming up out of the water where there had previously been nothing. Maybe it was the element of surprise that it afforded her.

The wizards weren't going to know what hit them.

Natasha had casually asked her adoptive father if there would be a time where she would have to use the SHARC and he had said there would be times and she had suppressed a grin. That time would be coming sooner than he expected.

This was how she and Reg were going to get to Azkaban.

She had taken a picture of the SHARC and shown it to him and he had been speechless for about five minutes.

"How in the hell does this thing work?" he asked finally and Natasha grinned. "It's a submarine Reg, which means its specifically designed to travel underwater and it can take us all the way to Azkaban without any of the other wizards knowing that we're there. Unfortunately, we'll have to stop a few hundred yards out. There's a tall lighthouse where we can leave the SHARC so it will be well hidden, but we'll have to swim the rest of the way."

When he looked flabbergasted, she indicated the scuba suits in her basement and said, "I hope you know how to swim Reg, because we'll be in the water for at least twenty minutes until we come up on the rocks outside of the beach. Before we get out of the water, you need to cast a Disillusionment Charm on us so no one can see us. Then we ditch the scuba gear, and go through the pipe into the prison. After that? Well that's when the fun really begins."

And she did mean fun. Natasha was so looking forward to getting back into the game and this was the perfect way to test whether or not she was lacking in any of her skills. She highly doubted it because she had kept up with the intense training since Hermione had been born, but one couldn't be too careful.

Regulus decided he was going to go back to Azkaban one more time to see his brother and let him in on a little of what was going to happen so he didn't give him a heart attack when he and Emma showed up guns blazing. Needless to say, Sirius still thought it was a bad idea, but he was inordinately pleased that his little brother was risking this. And he was looking forward immensely to getting out of that place.

Regulus explained a little bit of the plan so Sirius would know what to expect, but not so much that he might give anything away. It was too risky to stay there for long and he didn't want to raise any kind of suspicion.

He returned back to Surrey feeling both apprehensive and eager to get the plan underway. Like Emma said, this was going to be a stealth mission and he couldn't wait to get started.

Petunia knew that as soon as the sun went down on the day that she and Regulus had decided, that it was game on. She could only hope that Regulus and Emma's stupidity wouldn't get them killed.

She was amazed when Regulus told her that Emma had been teaching him to use scuba gear and fire a gun. It reminded her that there were still things she didn't know about her neighbor and that her past was somewhat chequered. She knew Emma had been in the army, part of the Special Forces, but that was about it.

Maybe it was time she started pressing for information. Emma and Hermione had been in Surrey and her neighbor for around three years now. They knew each other well enough to speak plainly.

Natasha for her part, was greatly enjoying all this. It was exactly like what she had done before but slightly different. Either way, she was itching to get back into it. Regulus was a little antsy and he had decided that he was going to teach Natasha a few defensive spells because they would be necessary when they got to Azkaban. There were two of them and while guns would work more efficiently than spells, there were always instances that they wouldn't be able to account for with only two people.

She was also impressed because Regulus had gotten pretty good with the gun and since they would be silencers they had the element of surprise. Natasha could just imagine the shock in the wizarding newspapers when they saw that a wizard had escaped from Azkaban by use of Muggle techniques.

Regulus was laughing at the irony himself.

The afternoon before they were set to depart, they were in the kitchen of Natasha's house checking the weapons they would bring with them one final time. Regulus had purchased a wrist sheath for himself and decided at the last minute to get one for Emma too to which she had strapped it to her upper thigh and then stuck her wand in so it would allow for easy access. She had also gone down to the basement and retrieved two, what they in the Red Room had called "Breathable Suits." They were almost like Spandex but much thicker and they immediately adjusted to every person's body shape so it would cut down on wind resistance but at the same time, allow them to breath. It had pocket on both sleeves to store small knives and other weapons. Natasha had strapped two of the silencers to her upper thighs and hidden small throwing knives on both of her ankles and on the inside of her wrists so she could throw them with ease. There was a small pistol in the soul of her left boot and she had strapped one of the larger guns to her back along with two clips of ammunition over both shoulders.

When she came up from the basement, Regulus looked a little speechless. As much as he was beginning to care for Petunia and feel a connection with her, he wasn't sure as hell wasn't blind. Emma was one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen and seeing her in a snug black outfit and armed to the teeth, was…incredibly attractive. Her dark brown curly hair she had left loose and hanging about her shoulders, and her green eyes sparkled with an inner excitement that he found infectious.

She handed him his suit wordlessly and he grimaced. "Isn't this a little…..tight?"

"We're crawling through a pipe Reg, we can't afford to get our clothes caught on anything or it could cost us the heist."

"Great."

He left to go and put on the outfit, grumbling all the while. Petunia still had a half worried half mad look on her face as she watched Natasha strap on her weapons, and after a few minutes, Natasha decided she better say something.

"Tuney if something's bothering you, it's better to speak up than glare at the person you have a problem with."

"Are you sure about this Emma?" Petunia sighed. "The three of us can still figure out some other way to get Sirius out of prison. What if you're caught?"

"We won't be."

"How do you know?"

"Just trust me, I know."

Petunia looked like she was about to protest but then shut her mouth when Regulus came back down grumbling. "I look like a roasted beanpole," he muttered, and Natasha pressed a fist to her mouth to stifle her laughter.

For Petunia however, she thought Regulus looked good. The tight suit showed off every muscle in his upper body which was quite a lot and the black curly hair that brushed the tops of his shoulders gave him an air of mystery. When he and Emma stood next to each other, they almost looked like a couple. A couple that looked insanely good together and for a moment, the blonde felt self-conscious.

There was nothing special about her that would attract Regulus. Emma was a witch, she was gorgeous and obviously possessed a lot of skills.

Then she remembered that Emma had no interest in Regulus other than a friend and that she was already married and she felt a little bit better.

Natasha handed Regulus his gun and ammunition clips which he strapped to his back and shoulders like she had done. After another ten minutes if suiting up, they were ready.

Natasha began to feel a buzz in the pit of her stomach, an excited buzz that told her she was finally doing what she was supposed to be doing.

After throwing their bags in the trunk of Natasha's rental car, Natasha said goodbye to Petunia and kissed Hermione Harry and Dudley on the cheeks. All three of the babies giggled as they looked up at her. "Be good for your aunt Tuney okay Mione?" she said sternly. "I'll be back in the morning with Uncle Regulus."

"Okay Mummy.

"Bye Auntie Emma," Harry and Dudley called out and she gave them a rare smile. "I'll see you later boys."

The she and Regulus hopped into the car and hit the road for the coast.

Ω

As she drove, and the sun went down behind the horizon turning the clouds pink and orange and gold, Natasha glanced sideways at Reg out of the corner of her eye.

"You look nervous," she observed and the young Black snorted. "I've never exactly broken into a high security prison before Emma, so yeah I'm a little nervous."

"Don't worry, we'll be fine."

Regulus snorted again. "We also didn't really practice this either."

Natasha grinned at him. "I've been in the army since I was fifteen years old Reg, I know how kill a man in over a dozen ways with my bare hands. In fact I could probably kill you right now before you could even reach for your wand. Trust me…..we're ready."

Regulus nodded and took a deep breath, and said no more on the way out to the coast.

It took them about two hours to get there and by that time, it was completely dark out. Natasha parked the car in an abandoned lot across from the facility and she and Regulus cast a notice me not charm on it that would render it invisible to any passing Muggle. Natasha had a key card that would allow them access to the sonar facility of the BSS, and she and Regulus, plus their bags, slipped inside and shut the door behind them.

They had had to scale an electric fence to get in and Regulus had to perform the levitation spell on himself and Natasha to get them over, but it worked.

There were only a few light on as the facility was built partially into the water and docked on the sides of the warehouse where all the crafts that the naval department of the BSS frequented.

"I don't see any security guards yet, but we should put our hoods up just in case," Natasha whispered and Regulus nodded. They both pulled the hoods on their suits up so only their eyes were visible. Natasha had ensured to put contacts in so no one would see her signature green eyes.

"Which one is our vessel Emma?" Regulus asked, nodding to the wall of SHARCs that were docked along the walls.

"That one," Emma whispered nodding to the first vessel. It was the one she had seen with Ivan, the one that looked like a small airplane with the engine and back up propellers in the back.

Without asking anymore questions the two of them hurried along the railing where the first SHARC was docked and Natasha opened the hatch. Regulus climbed in first and skirted around the edge to the back where the guns were so he could man them in case, god forbid something went wrong.

Natasha then stepped in and sealed the hatch. It was larger in the back then it was in the front and the seats were swivel so they could turn this way and that. There were faceted windows on each side of the SHARC that allowed for different perspectives. There were guns in the front as well.

Natasha sat down, buckled herself in and looked at the control in front of her. There was a steering wheel, but most of the controls were in the form of buttons and levers and spread out on a half-moon shaped countertop in front of her.

"You all strapped in Reg?" she called behind her.

"Hell yeah."

"Let's do this," Natasha said grinning, and first pressed the button that would start the engine before hitting the button that would submerge the craft. She hit the reverse bottom when they were completely submerged, backed up the SHARC and then hitting the accelerator so they sped out of the facility and into the Atlantic.

"How long do you think it'll take up to get there?" Regulus asked as Natasha hit the high beam lights so she could see through the water as it was so dark.

"Half an hour maybe," she replied. "If I were you though, I'd start putting on your scuba gear now, we're not going to have to use the guns yet."

There was an affirmative grunt from the backseat and some shuffling as Regulus reached into one of the bags they had brought with them and began the process of putting on the scuba gear.

True to form, they sped through the dark water and it was around nine when Natasha surfaced the SHARC as there was a light piercing the water and she saw the lighthouse just off the coast of the island of the prison of Azkaban.

"We ditch the SHARC here Reg," she said turning around in the chair to face him. "We swim the rest of the way."

Regulus nodded and pulled the map of Azkaban out of one of his pockets in the bags they brought with them. "The pipe we're supposed to get to is on the east side of the island," he said. "So we'll have to swim for at least ten or fifteen minutes to get to it."

He looked a little nervous and Natasha could understand why. Scuba diving was something that witches and wizards didn't normally do. Anything but Quidditch was seen as a Muggle sport and therefore, beneath them.

"Just remember to breathe in a constant rhythm and you won't have any problems," Natasha reminded him as she put her own scuba gear on over the breathable suit. Once they reached the pipe, they would have to ditch the scuba suits, and Natasha had a small self-destruct feature in each one, so no one would have any evidence that they were ever there.

Once they were suited up in all their scuba gear, the two of them headed for the emergency escape hatch which was on the right side of the SHARC. How it worked was there was a small compartment in the floor that one had to get down into. Once they were in it, it closed automatically and then they had to hit a small button on the side of the compartment that would launch them out into the water. They wouldn't be coming back in the same manner so it only counted for one time.

Regulus went first and Natasha handed him the small ear piece they would use to keep in touch. When he was down in the compartment, she spoke to him through the small intercom. "Don't start swimming yet when you get out there, stay beneath the water too."

He nodded, took a deep breath and pressed the button. There was a rushing and sucking sound and then he was gone.

As soon as the compartment was empty, Natasha got down into the escape hatch, the glass closed over her and after readying herself, she hit the button and felt herself being thrown forward into cold dark water.

For a moment, there was disorientation and then she righted herself in the water, catching sight of Regulus, who was floating there in his scuba gear breathing deeply you.

"You alright?" she said through the intercom.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Let's just get going."

The water of the northern Atlantic was freezing but they kept swimming, knowing that stopping wasn't really an option. Schools of odd colored and multi sized fish swam up in front of them but they ignored them.

A dark shape was materializing in the distance and Natasha knew it was the drop off point of the cliffs where Azkaban was situated.

"We're almost there," she said to Regulus. "We should start heading up now."

He nodded and they made for the surface. When their heads popped up, they saw they were only fifteen yards away from the cliff face and the pipe was about twenty yards away on their right. In the moonlight, Azkaban was as imposing as a fortress. It reminded her of the cliché version of the fortresses that James Bond would have to break into in the movies that Ivan had shown her when she was a little girl. It was a veritable castle that stood against the rock face of the cliff like island like a giant. There was a bridge that went down several feet from the front gates until it reached the long jetty which led out to the light house where the SHARC was submerged.

Ahead of them was the large drainage pipe that was mounted on several rocks down close to the edge of the water.

Creeping along like eels, Regulus and Natasha slid out of the water and immediately pulled off their scuba suits. They piled them in a heap once they were off and Natasha pushed a button on her watch that activated the self-destruct sensor. In the five seconds, the suits exploded into dust.

"Do you want to go first or shall I?" Natasha whispered nodding to the pipe.

"I'll go first," Regulus said. He looked nervous but determined. "I know the prison better. Sirius's cell is on the third floor."

He took a deep breath and dove into the pipe with Natasha following.

Both of them were back in the Breathable suits and were crawling in their hands and knees in the scummy water up the pipe into Azkaban. The smell was so offending that Regulus had to cast a few spells just so he wouldn't be sick. The air in the pipe began to clear and Natasha breathed a sigh of relief.

They were wearing headlights on their head turned on to full brightness and it was the only source of light as they continued the long climb in the dark.

"So when we reach the end of the pipe," Natasha whispered. "What the fastest route to the third floor?"

"There should be a staircase on the floor we end up in. There'll probably be several guards around, so we need to move fast."

It took about twenty minutes to climb up the pipe and there were times when one or both of them almost slipped. It was cold and it was scummy and both of them were very glad when a dim light appeared at the end of the tunnel.

Regulus immediately cut the light on his lamp and climbed faster. When they finally reached the end of the tunnel, Regulus jumped out and pulled Natasha out as well. They had barely managed to dry themselves off before a voice yelled, "You there! What are you doing?"

Regulus swore under his breath because he had forgotten to cast the disillusionment charm. Natasha seized the two small knives on her inner wrists.

There were three guards who were at the opposite end of the corridor and sprinting toward them, wands raised. Natasha yanked out her knives and threw both of them in quick succession before the words of a spell were halfway across their lips. The blades buried themselves in their stomachs and both of them dropped like stones. The other guard skidded to a halt in shock which gave Regulus just enough time to stun him.

"That was close," he breathed out. He stunned and then healed and obliviated the other two. Killing wasn't really the motive here. It was to get in, get Sirius and get out.

Regulus quickly vanished the bodies so no one would see them and the two of them made for the staircase at the end of the corridor as fast as they could.

Everything in that place was made of solid and it was freezing cold. There were no lit lamps either and Natasha felt the whole place had a depressing chill that would really get into your bones.

Thankfully, they managed to make it to the third floor without encountering any other guards at least.

The third floor corridor was long and silent with the light of the moon shining in from a long row of cells on the right side of the hall. It appeared that all the other inmates were asleep as she and Regulus hurried along.

The younger Black skidded to a stop the fifth cell down and pressed his face up against the bars. "Siri!" he hissed. "Wake up it's time to go."

The pile of rags on the bed suddenly got up and hurried over to the bars. "Reg?" It said. "I can't believe you got this far." He pushed back the rags on his head and Natasha immediately saw that she was looking at a carbon copy of Regulus, only a much skinnier version. This guy looked sickly and his skin was so pale you could almost see the blue and purple veins in his skin.

Regulus shrugged and grinned. "Well, I had help." He indicated Natasha and Sirius's eyes widened taking in the beautiful woman.

"Emma's a witch too, but she's also lived in the Muggle world for a while too."

"Reg, if we are quite done with the introductions, we need to get out of here, like right now," she said urgently and he nodded.

Natasha went a placed two small censors on the cell bars. "Step back Sirius. You don't want to be close when these things go off."

He obeyed and Natasha pressed a button on her watch. There was a dull boom and the ground beneath their feet shook for about two seconds. When the dust cleared, there was a hole in the middle of the bars on the cell. Regulus helped his brother out.

"We gotta go, someone will have heard that," Natasha said and she had no sooner said the words when someone yelled. "Hold it right there you three!"

They whirled around and Natasha saw half a dozen wizards standing about ten feet away, wands trained on them.

This time Natasha was the one who swore.

"Reg," she muttered out of the side of her mouth. "When I say go, get ready to run."

He nodded.

The wizards were coming closer. "You're not going anywhere Black," one of them snarled and Natasha smirked.

"That's what you think," she whispered.

Quick as lightning, she pulled two small electric nodes from the belt on the back of her suit and threw them at the wizards. As soon as they hit the ground there was a small concussion and a cloud of smoke rose up in their faces, causing the wizards to sputter and cough.

Natasha dove forward and seized hold of the ankles of the closest wizard, using his already off balanced position to her advantage, she yanked him off his feet and shoved him into the others, causing them to topple like bowling pins.

"Reg, go!" she yelled, jumping to her feet and the three of them sprinted as fast as they could back down the hallway.

"Lock down the prison, she heard one of the guards yell. "Sirius Black is escaping!"

A red jet of light shot towards them and barely avoided missing Reg's head. Natasha yanked her silencer out of the holster on her thigh and fired a few shots behind her. There was a strangled cry and she knew her aim had been good.

They tore down the staircases as fast as they could go, Regulus holding his older brother up. "I sure hope you know what you're doing," his older brother panted.

"Shut up Siri, and move faster!" Regulus shouted.

The made it to the bottom floor without encountering any guards but as they made toward the pipe to make a quick getaway, there was the sudden sound of marching and they looked up to see twenty regimented Aurors moving toward them.

"Aw hell, really?" Regulus complained.

Natasha shoved the brothers toward the pipe. "You guys get to the SHARC, I'll deal with these clowns. Regulus shook his head. "I may be a Slytherin, but I don't turn my back on my friends." He shoved his brother against the wall. "Stay down Siri."

"Reg, what the hell are you doing?!"

"Saving your ass!"

Almost at the same time, the Aurors fired off stunning spell and Natasha yelled: "Jump Reg!"

Not even questioning it, he launched himself into the air.  
Natasha, who had had a bit more warning, yanked her guns from her holsters the second she felt her feet leave the ground and began firing at will.

She had been an expert marksmen when she was in the Red Room and she hadn't lost her touch one bit. Two of the Aurors dropped like stones when she nailed them in the stomach and out of the corner of her eye, Regulus was making good use of the gun she had given him too.

They didn't shoot to kill, but it was clear the Aurors weren't expecting it and they all dropped like flies when the two of them started firing.

When all of them were on the ground and sufficiently out of commission, Natasha reloaded her gun and Regulus hauled his brother to his feet who was wide eyes. "What the hell was that?" he asked.

"I'll explain later Siri."

The three of them threw themselves down the pipe and the descent was much faster than anyone would have expected and within a few minutes, they were splashing in the water of the Atlantic.

Up on the cliff, there was an alarm going off in Azkaban. Regulus helped his brother to his feet.

"We gotta move Reg, we're running out of time," Natasha said. He nodded and cast a disillusionment charm on them and the three of the hurried for the jetty as fast as they could.

It turned out that that was the easy part. There were no Aurors guarding the light house and because of the charm, none of the Dementors swirling around saw them.

As they drew closer to the end of the jetty, Natasha hit the remote control on her belt and immediately the SHARC surfaced.

Sirius skidded to a halt, breathing hard. "What the hell is that?"

"That dear brother is our getaway vehicle," he said grinning.

Natasha opened the hatch and ushered the two of them inside before sealing the door. She could see the gates of Azkaban opening and sever Aurors pouring out, but they were too far away to see what was going on.

She quickly submerged the SHARC, turned it around and hit the accelerator. The craft sped through the water away from Azkaban with the alarms still going off behind them.

"That was wicked!" Regulus crowed from the backseat after he had strapped himself and his brother in. "We actually did it Emma!"

"We did indeed Reg. Now comes the hard part."

"What's that?" Sirius asked grimly.

"Keeping out of the public eye, because I have a feeling after this, we're going to be the three most wanted wizards in all of Great Britain."

Ω

**Okay, so it takes a lot for me to impress myself when it comes to my writing, but honestly, I think I've outdone myself with this chapter. I really hope you guys enjoy it and don't forget to review!**


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15

Petunia Dursley had not had a good evening at all.

After she had put the babies to bed and Riley had taken up residence on the floor outside of the closed door of the nursery, she had taken to pacing the living room downstairs with a cup of steaming tea sitting on the coffee table.

_Damn them!_ She thought vehemently as she paced, hands twisted behind her back. _Damn them all! Damn Reg for thinking this was a good idea and damn Emma for going along with it! What the _hell _were they thinking going to a maximum security prison to break out a convicted felon?!_

Well that convicted felon was also innocent and Regulus's brother, so that was a point in his favor, but there had to have been a better way to go about this than to kick the door down and go in guns blazing…..literally.

She let out a sound that was halfway between a sigh and a growl. As soon as Vernon was gone, it seemed as if her life was filled with witches and wizards. Both of her boys were wizards and their best friend was a witch. It was with startling clarity that Petunia realized among her children and friends, she was the only one that was a Muggle.

This didn't bother her as much as it used to, but she was still a little annoyed that they could all do things that she couldn't.

Brushing that thought aside, she resumed her pacing. How long had they been gone anyway? One hour? Two?

She cursed aloud and plowed a hand through her blonde hair. If they weren't back in ten minutes she was going to…..to…..

Oh hell, she had no idea what she was going to do. For the moment all she could do was pace and wring her hands and mutter threats about what she was going to do to Emma and Regulus when they got back.

If they got back.

_Shut up!_ She screamed mentally. _Reg is a wizard and Emma knows how to kill a man six ways to Sunday with her bare hands, that's certainly not something the guards are going to be expecting._

While it calmed her somewhat, it still wasn't quite enough to get to her to relax fully.

However the one thing that did, the tap at the door, came just after half past midnight on that cold evening.

Petunia practically fell over herself in order to get to the door in a hurry. She undid the dead bolt and yanked back the chain, wrenching the door open.

There on the stoop stood Emma and Regulus dressed in the traditional black clothes they had left in. Emma didn't have her weapons strapped across her back even though it was dark out which was a smart move as it wouldn't do for anyone to see them.

Standing behind the both of them was a man that Petunia would have said once looked like a slightly older version of Regulus.

But this man was painfully skinny with white waxy skin and black eyes that were so sunken into his face they looked like pools of tar. His hair was a mop of black against his scalp and face, he was dressed in rags with nothing but a coat covering him and scraps on his feet.

"Oh….dear…..God," Petunia was finally able to force out.

"Petunia are you just going to stand there gaping at us or are you going to let us in?" Natasha snapped. "The neighbors might come to their windows at any moment and the last thing we need is a hoard of cops here asking questions about bedraggled strangers showing up at your door."

Petunia blinked and quickly stepped back into the foyer to let them in. Sirius was the last to step over the threshold and the moment he did so and Petunia closed the door, he turned to her.

"Petunia? Not Lily's sister Petunia? The one who hated anything and everything magical?"

The blonde in question grimaced and Regulus, noticing her discomfort came to her aid.

"Yes it is Siri, now shut up and go sit down, you look like you're about to fall over."

The elder Black glared at his brother but followed him wordlessly down to the kitchen and dropped himself unceremoniously into one of the chairs. Regulus looked him over and then transfigured the rags he was wearing into comfortable looking robes and slippers and Sirius gave a sigh of relief. After taking care of his many bruises, Regulus looked up at Natasha.

"He'll live, but he's going to be sore for the next little while and it's probably gonna take more than a week to get over what he went through the past year."

By this time, Sirius was already asleep from exhaustion and Regulus levitated him to the couch.

"Where's Hermione?" Natasha asked her friend on their way out of the kitchen.

"She's upstairs in the nursery."

The red head nodded, feeling some of her worry dissipate.

Regulus came back into the kitchen and slumped down into the same chair that his brother had been occupying a few minutes ago.

"He's out like a light," he said. "It wouldn't surprise me if he slept for two days. He's been a year in that place, I'm not sure many would have lasted."

"Yeah that's one of the reasons I never understood the magical world even though I am technically a witch. It's like as soon as you commit a crime, all of your rights go out the window and in Sirius's case it's even worse because he didn't even get a trial," Natasha put in.

"Speaking of which, I need to work on that," Regulus put in. "There has to be some kind of penalty for witches and wizards who were sent to Azkaban without a trial, but in Siri's case, I think he was the first one to be denied one."

Natasha frowned. "You need any help on that Reg? I don't go on assignment for another few days and Petunia's already told me that Hermione can stay with her while I'm gone."

"That'd be great, thanks."

Petunia sat down with her cup of tea across from them. "So, how did it go? They weren't able to identify any of you were they?"

Regulus shook his head and accepted the cup of tea she handed him. "I managed to stun most of them before that happened and then Obliviate the rest and the ones I didn't get to, Emma took out with the gun."

"I didn't kill anyone," Natasha said reassuringly when the blonde looked at her in alarm. "It was just enough that they were out of commission and most wizards are so ignorant of Muggle culture that it'll probably take them awhile to determine what exactly it was that I used. No offense Reg."

"None taken. If it wasn't for those Muggle tools, we never would have gotten Siri out the first place." He glanced at the other woman. "Speaking of getting things out, are you sure your boss isn't going to notice that you've taken some of his equipment and used it?"

"I did a thorough run down on the SHARC before we left, vanished all of our fingerprints and even refilled the gas tank, so no I don't think anyone will notice."

"Well I hope the both of you are prepared for the backlash this will cause," Petunia said a little nervously as she took a sip of her tea. "Breaking out a convicted mass murdere isn't going to fly like if you had just robbed a convenience store or something."

"Tuney, we're also living like Muggles for the time being, everyone thinks Reg is dead and no one in the wizarding world knows who I am because the Romanovs "died" out years ago. Don't worry, I think we're sufficiently prepared."

"If you say so," the blonde said taking another sip of her tea. "What are you gonna do when Sirius wakes up Reg?"

"I'll take him back to Grimmauld Place. It's Unplottable so no one in the Ministry knows where it is. No one will be able to find Siri there."

He glanced up at Natasha. "In the meantime Emma, part of me thinks it might be a good idea to continue learning to use those Muggle weapons, in some ways they're more efficient than a wand. You can dodge a Killing Curse, but you can't dodge a bullet. You can only pray that the person who fired it at you missed."

"Very true," the red head said. "Part of me thinks that in some ways, Muggles are more efficient than witches and wizards. Yeah so we can't apparate, but aside from waving pointy sticks around we do everything the same if not better than the wizards do."

"I can't really dispute that."

"Well if you two are quite finished," Petunia said. "It is almost one in the morning and I would like to get some rest and I would suggest that you two do the same as well. Reg, there's a blanket on the couch opposite Sirius, Emma you know where the guest room is."

"How come Emma gets the guest room and I get the couch?" Regulus protested as the two women headed for the stairs.

"Simple, I like her better," Petunia called back.

Natasha was glad that no one could see her smirking.

Ω

It turned out Regulus was right, Sirius did sleep for the next two days. And when he was awakened, he was still so disoriented that Regulus had to hold his arm when the two of them apparated home.

Reg promised that he would be back soon and the two men disappeared in a bright flash.

"I don't think I'm ever going to get used to them doing that," Petunia muttered under her breath as they headed back into the house.

"While I am not a fan of the feeling apparition causes," Natasha conceded. "It can be very useful in a fight. During the last few years that I've been here, combining the Muggle and magical way of doing things has been very effective."

Meanwhile Dudley, Hermione and Harry were out playing in the snow with Riley again. Harry had been a little curious when the toddlers had gone downstairs the following morning to find Uncle Reg and a strange man lying on the sofa with one arm thrown over his face as he snored loudly.

It seemed the harsh noises were keeping Regulus awake because when he saw the three of them, he put a finger to his lips to keep them quiet and they tried not to giggle.

For a toddler, Harry was pretty bold and so he went over to Sirius on the couch, managed to wriggle himself up onto the cushion and sit down on Sirius's knee. From there he crawled up onto the sleeping man's stomach and proceeded to smack his cheeks gently causing the flow of air to become disrupted. The snores stuttered for a moment before returning to their natural rhythm but Hermione and Dudley who had been watching were giggling uncontrollably together and even Regulus looked like he was having a hard time keeping his mirth in.

Something he had learned about the babies in the past few weeks that he had been seeing Petunia, was that they loved to laugh and they while they could be serious, they loved to pull jokes on one another and their parents.

As the following week went by, Regulus kept an eye on the Daily Prophet as Kreature who been the one to fetch it for his mistress every morning still did so out of respect and read the news aloud to her portrait at nine thirty exactly.

From there, Regulus was able to learn that the news of masked intruders breaking Sirius out of Azkaban was all over the front page and news of a convicted mass murderer breaking out of a maximum security prison and running loose about the countryside was heavy one everyone's minds.

The Ministry was promising to do everything it could, which made the younger Black want to laugh. They hadn't been able to do anything when Voldemort was parading around the country killing Muggles four years ago so there was no way they would be able to do anything now. The Ministry and the Minister himself were an incompetent bunch of windbags who would only talk just to hear themselves and hide themselves behind their Wizengamot podiums in the hopes that they would continue to maintain their positions.

The Ministry needed to be shaken up and he was glad that he and Emma had been the ones to do it. The wizarding world had been calm for about four years now, it was high time to make sure that no one got complacent.

Regulus was pretty sure they had covered their tracks pretty well. Emma hadn't even used real bullets. When he had asked her what she had been loading into her gun a few minutes before they dove out of the SHARC, she had responded only that it was their insurance and handed him one. It looked like a bullet but it felt like ice in his hand and as soon as it made contact with his skin, it had begun to melt.

She had explained that it was an ice bullet and that people in the Muggle military used them when they wanted to make sure that all of their tracks were covered and that no one could detect what the murder weapon had been. It worked like a regular bullet and wouldn't kill anyone unless aimed at a vital area just like a real gun would, but as soon as it made contact with the blood stream, it would dissolve so there would be no trace evidence.

When she had explained all of this to him, Reg decided right then and there that Emma was a genius.

Right now, his main focus was on getting Sirius on his feet again and making sure that his brother got a trial and could officially be a part of the wizarding world again. They had mostly been going back and forth between Grimmauld Place and Petunia's house with their information, trying to figure out the best way to get a trial for the older Black.

It was what they were doing with Sirius around Petunia's table that particular night. Natasha had Hermione on her lap, Petunia was holding Dudley and Harry was bouncing around on Sirius's knee.

Once the young man had been told that his best friend's wife's sister was raising the last Potter, he had been beside himself with joy that he was alright. And once he had heard that Harry had been cared for and well taken care of the past three years since he had arrived on Petunia's doorstep, he had decided that he would leave him in the home that he was happiest in and come by and see him a few times a week. He had been quite impressed with both Dudley and Hermione too and declared that with a little bit of work, "they would be the next Marauders," whatever the hell that meant, Natasha had thought to herself.

Sirius still flirted with her, but it was more of in a friendly playful way once Petunia had told him that in no uncertain terms that she was married and he would do well to keep away as Dan Granger looked like no less than a god and could "kick his ass from here to kingdom come if he wanted."

Natasha had laughed out loud about that because even though Petunia didn't know the whole truth, it was certainly true. And speaking of that certain blonde, she was back to wondering where on earth he was. She hadn't seen him for the better part of two years and she wasn't even sure that Hermione would remember him at this point. Natasha knew he would have a very good reason for staying away and the only two she could think of were the war was still going on and was as fierce as ever, or that they had been found out and his father had forbidden him from seeing him and performed some kind of act where he could not enter Midgard.

She knew how powerful the god of thunder was, and was sure that his father was a hundred times more so, so if that had indeed happen, it would be a long while before he could see her and his daughter again.

The red head decided she wasn't going to dwell on it any longer. She was angry about it, but not at him. She knew he would be there if he could, and obviously something was keeping him from doing so, and when he came again, he would explain what it was.

Although Petunia had asked a few times in the past two years when her husband was coming back to see her and Natasha had had to come up with a cool excuse each time in order to put her off.

She didn't want to have to make up some kind of rumor where he had been killed in action and then have him show up randomly and blow that lie out of the water. This whole persona she had been keeping up for the past five years was getting tiring and there were times when she just wanted to tell her friend the whole truth, but telling someone you're an international assassin who stole military secrets and could kill a man with her bare hands wasn't really something you talked about over tea and crumpets.

Or whatever.

Besides, Petunia was already informed enough to know that Natasha had a military past which was partially true as well as the fact that she had killed people when necessary….also true. They could leave out the whole stealing military secrets part.

Natasha was chewing on her bottom lip that particular evening as the four adults sat around the dinner table, finishing up a lasagne and pouring over several books on magical law that the Black brothers had brought with them from Grimmauld. And even though she was half distracted, she didn't jump like the others did when Sirius let out a frustrated growl and shut his thick book with a snap.

Nerves of steel and all that.

"This is hopeless," the older Black sighed. "It's been weeks and we haven't found anything to use in getting me a trial."

He was looking a lot better than he had after his four year stint in prison. Regulus had practically forced nutrient and growth potions down his throat and he was beginning to fill out again. He had cut his hair, trimmed his beard and dressed in the clothes of a Muggle, he was beginning to look a little more like his old self.

"Patience Siri," Regulus said not even looking up from his book. "It's not as if finding a solution to this problem is going to be easy. The Ministry has Aurors scouring up and down the country for you. We need to work under the radar and right now, that's happening slowly. Don't worry we'll find something. At least for now you're free and can sleep in a regular bed and eat regular food without having to worry about Dementors hanging over you every few seconds."

He had a point and Sirius nodded grudgingly before going back to book that Harry was still trying to reach. "Hang on pup," Sirius muttered as he stood up and left the room to get Harry a toy to occupy himself. "I'll get you something to play with."

As soon as he had left the room, Regulus sighed and leaned back in his chair. It was obvious he had been putting on a bit of an act for his brother and was feeling a little discouraged himself.

"Don't worry Reg," Petunia said gently as Dudley slid down from her lap and went to go find Harry. "We'll find something. Right Emma?"

But the red head was no longer paying attention. A sudden idea had entered her head about a lead they hadn't tried yet and the more she thought about it, the more it began to take shape. The one place they hadn't looked for information was the Ministry. The reason was that both Regulus and Sirius thought that that was a dead end. The Ministry was a very black and white institution and if they were to go in there and start asking questions it would throw shade in their direction and the last thing they needed was someone paying attention to them.

But maybe they had been going about it the wrong way…..

"Emma?" Petunia asked, reaching over and waving a hand in front of her face to get her attention. "Where did you go?"

Natasha blinked and reluctantly dragged herself out of the idea she had been constructing mentally. "What?" she said. "Oh, I'm sorry…..but…..I think I just had an idea."

"Well it can't be anything worse than anything we've already thought of," Regulus said closing his book and pushing it aside. Natasha raised her eyebrows at him. "Thanks for the vote of confidence Reg."

"Oh….well…you know what I mean Emma."

The red head shook her head, deciding she was going to ignore that remark for the time being.

"My idea was….now I know you wanted to bypass a direct approach at the Ministry," she said and held up a hand when he made to interrupt. "Hear me out first though. I think it may be our only option. Somewhere in the bowels of that place is a file on Sirius Black and why he never got a trial and this is something we are going to need to find and exploit if we want to go about this the legal way the second time around. And I'm not suggesting we break in," she said when she saw the look on Petunia's face.

"Well then how are we going to do it?" Regulus asked. "It's not as if we can just waltz up to the DMLE and ask for any and all information pertaining to the non-existent trial of Sirius Black."

Natasha started smirking and the polar opposite expressions in both Regulus and Petunia's faces conveyed to her that they knew exactly what she was taking about. Regulus being the excited one and Petunia looking almost pained.

"You want to go in disguise?" Regulus asked.

"Oh no," Petunia groaned, dropping her head into her hands.

"I think it's our best bet," Natasha explained. "In order to get your hands on that information, you are going to have to pose as a distant relative to the Blacks because seeing how your line is all but non-existent, no one is really going to ask questions."

"Emma this is even more far-fetched than breaking my brother out of prison," Regulus said. "Once I claim to be some long lost cousin of the Blacks, they are going to look up any and all references to my non-existent name and know that I'm full of hippogriff dung and that'll be the end of it."

"That's why we're going to choose someone who they already know of, but didn't know was still alive," Natasha prompted. "Then they'll look this person up, realize that he's legitimate and have no choice but to give you what you want."

"Okay I know that you've lived as a Muggle for most of your life, but you don't really think that's going to work do you?" the youngest Black asked.

"Look Reg, I may not be as in touch with the magical world as I like or even should like but what I do know is people. Human nature doesn't change simply because you do or don't have magic. The Ministry is going to look you up, we're going to have to use a powerful Glamour Charm on you to change your appearance, and upon learning that Sirius has escaped from prison, you will come forward, claiming that since you are the last of the Black's that has not been incarcerated, you are the sole heir. And then you will demand to know why Sirius wasn't given a trial seeing as he is the last of your family. Hermione and I are the last of the last of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Romanov, so I know what it means to be the last of a line. Plus if you also claim lordship, they're more inclined to listen to you since everyone in the magical world is bigoted to some degree against the Muggles and Muggleborns."

Regulus looked like he was considering the idea. "Alright," he said, "but what about you? Will you stay here or go with me?"

"I'll go with you if you want," Natasha shrugged. "I really don't think it matters. But if I do go with you, we're going to have to claim some kind of relationship because they aren't going to be too inclined to believe two friends have simply taken an interest in your long lost relative's trial."

"I suppose that's true."

So when Sirius came back into the room with a much calmer Harry, they took a minute and explained to him the plan, of which he was all in favor. He was a little irritated that his younger brother would be going into the lion's den, but it wouldn't really do for himself to go in as that was asking for trouble.

They worked out a date of when they would go and it was difficult to stop the smirk on Natasha's face. Since she had met Petunia and Reg, she had been doing a lot of her old work, breaking people out of prison, impersonating a noblewoman to obtain a trial for an innocent man and using both magic and Muggle weapons in the process.

_Maybe it is possible to live in both worlds, _she thought. _Maybe magic isn't as bad as I thought it was when I was growing up. My parents were both purebloods from royal families and so was my sister. Maybe it isn't wrong to want Hermione to have a grounded knowledge of both worlds. She deserves to know about her grandparents when she grows up as god knows she won't know her grandparents on her father's side._

Ω

It was almost too easy.

After taking the next week to do some research, the plan slowly began to take shape. Regulus would pose as a distant cousin, Octavius Black and Natasha would be impersonating his wife Antoinette, a French Pureblood.

There actually were two such people, but they lived in a remote corner of the world. Reg had told Emma that one of the family traits of the Blacks was to walk a fine line between brilliance and insanity if their cousin Bellatrix was any indication. Octavius and Antoinette were the kind that also leaned on the crazy side as well as they were obsessed with rare magical creatures and once they were out of school and married had dedicated their lives to chasing them around the globe and living in their habitats.

They would be the perfect couple to pretend to be.

Just before they were to go to the Ministry however, the three of them, which was Natasha Regulus and Sirius…were going to brew a strong Draught of Living Death. It was going to be so strong in fact that it would appear to put Sirius into a coma for about two to three weeks. He was to take it in a public place where he would be found by the Aurors and taken to St. Mungo's under guard. During the time he was in his coma, Regulus and Natasha, posing as the couple were going to show up at the Ministry after "reading about the incident in the Daily Prophet" and demand to know if his cousin had gotten a trial.

It was genius.

Natasha was the queen of plans though. She always had a plan and then a backup plan for the first plan and then a backup plan for the second plan and so on and so forth. She had had to living in the secret service her entire life.

They went over a few contingency situations for the next few weeks and physically practiced the plan in order to work out any kinks or curveballs that the Ministry would throw at them at the last minute.

Hermione, Harry and Dudley realized that there was a lot of things going on that they didn't understand but that it had something to do with "Uncle Siwi" During this time, Petunia and Natasha would make sure they were preoccupied with Riley, or Petunia would take them to the library or to the park so they wouldn't be underfoot during the planning. Natasha felt guilty that she wasn't spending as much time with her little girl but she made a mental promise that she would make it up to the little strawberry blonde after Sirius was a free man.

The day the plan was to take place was a Saturday and Natasha was feeling a little tense. Sirius was supposed to radio them when he had reached a back alley of Hogsmeade. Natasha had given him an old fashioned walkie talkie and had had to teach him how to use the Muggle device, explaining that it was a form of communication that wouldn't be traceable by the Ministry, which they all thought was brilliant. He would then remove the glamor charms on himself, dispose of his wand and drink the potion. After that, it was up to them.

There weren't many things that could go wrong with this plan, even if they sent Sirius to a holding cell in the Ministry until he woke up or straight back to Azkaban, the attention it would generate was so intense that an article would be published in the Prophet about it either way and Natasha and Regulus would show up regardless.

Despite the lack of conceivable contingencies associated with this plan, everyone was still a little on edge when the day to execute it came.

Natasha woke up a little bit earlier and spent a little more time at the firing range in her basement, glad that she had soundproofed the lower floor with the amount of shell casings she had down there.

Petunia's part of the plan was to take the babies to the library for the day so they wouldn't be anywhere near the execution of the plan and wouldn't be involved in any way. She was going to keep her cell phone on her so Natasha would update her as time went by.

Nothing to worry about right?

Right.

At about ten thirty in the morning, Sirius said a tense good bye to his brother and friends and disillusioned himself before quietly slipping out the door.

After that, all there was to do was wait.

It didn't take long.

Within a few hours, there was an article in the Daily Prophet about how Sirius had been discovered near death in an alley in Hogsmeade wandless and in rags. He had been taken to the Ministry and left in a holding spell in order to await further processing before he was returned to Azkaban. Further processing just meant they wanted to wait until he woke up to answer any questions about who had broken him out before he was back in his nice cozy cell.

The rags had been an idea of Petunia's, she thought it would be more believable if he looked like he had been on the run for a few weeks and was planning to steal something to aid in his escape.

Upon receiving the article, Natasha and Regulus set about dressing themselves in the robes of Black heirs and giving themselves sophisticated looks. Their appearance was key in fooling the Ministry and making them believe they were serious contenders to the head of the Black House.

Regulus had to put a Glamour Charm on Natasha so the already disguised mahogany curls shifted to golden blonde and her green eyes blended to a clear blue that was what set the French witches apart from the rest. He himself made his hair grow a little longer, placed the Black signet ring upon his finger and buttoned his deep red rich robes up to his throat before placing his other hand on the gilded golden cane that had belonged to a great grandfather of his from at least fifty years previously.

As soon as the newspaper reached them from Natasha's owl, Natasha got into the headspace of a French accent and thanked every star in the heavens that she had been in deep cover there for a few years. She had already been fooling Petunia, a good friend for the past four and a half years, the rest of this should be easy.

Taking Regulus's arm, they stepped into the backyard and apparated to the Ministry.

Now for this next part, Natasha was going to have to rely solely on Regulus. She had never been to the British Ministry before and had only been to the Russian Ministry one time with her father and sister when she was seven years old. After that well…..the magical community had seen the back of her.

Well technically they apparated to downtown London where they entered a red telephone booth which lowered into the floor to a plain stone corridor with a single fire place at the other end where there was a bowl of green floo powder sitting on the mantle.

After stepping into the fireplace, Regulus took Natasha's arm, seized a handful of powder and threw it down calling out: "Ministry of Magic."

There was a whirling sensation as if the world was spinning like a top and Natasha closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. She didn't mind apparition, even though Regulus was teaching her how to do it. In order to practice apparition, one had to have a license, but the younger Black had told her that she didn't need to go and get one because if she did, that meant that the Ministry would have her name on file, they would keep track of her whereabouts and regulate her activity in a way that she didn't need.

Finally when the whirling had stopped, Natasha shook her head to shake away the dizziness before she got into character and stepped out of the fireplace on Regulus's arm.

The Ministry of Magic in Britain certainly wasn't something she was expecting simply because it was so busy. The walls were painted such a vibrant green that it almost made her sick to her stomach to look at them and there was a large golden statue in the middle of the atrium that was opposite a hallway full of fireplaces where they had just come out of. There was such a clatter and bustling of people coming to and fro that Natasha almost wanted to put her hands over her ears. Muggles were far quieter than witches and wizards were and she had grown used to a life of solitude when she had lived in Russia that it was almost mind boggling to be around so much noise now.

"Where are we off to first?" she whispered to Regulus as they hurried into the atrium.

"The Department of Magical Law Enforcement," he replied. "They would have the most information on Sirius and they would know what holding cell they're keeping him in here so we might be able to go and see him before this whole thing really get under way.

They hurried through the atrium to a large gilded desk right by the hideous golden statue where a witch was working furiously.

"Excuse me," Regulus said in his impression of a snooty French accent. It actually wasn't that bad, but Natasha had had to make sure that he had practiced his enunciations for a few days before she determined that he was passable. "Perhaps you could direct us to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. We are here in the matter of Sirius Black."

As soon as those last two words were uttered, the witch paled and she leaned over the desk.

"What could you possibly want to do with that mass murderer?" she demanded looking at them suspiciously.

This was where Natasha's interrogation techniques took over. She hadn't been in the Red Room for a decade without picking up a few things, and she could honestly saw she knew how to intimidate people.

"Listen…..Ella is it?" she asked leaning slightly across the desk, not even looking at the nametag even though she knew that was what it had already said as they were striding across the atrium toward her. "That's really none of your business isn't it? My husband and I are here on behalf of the Most Ancient and Most Noble House of Black so unless you wished to be hauled up in court by our solicitors, I suggest you point us in the direction of the DMLE."

Regulus finished off the threat by making the signet ring on his finger very visible.

If it was possible, the witch's face paled even further and she sat down hard in her chair looking somewhat shaky before pointing to a fireplace on the right side of the atrium directly opposite the information desk. "That is the fireplace directly to the DMLE. It's head Amelia Bones should be in her office right now if you're lucky."

They both nodded at her and walked to the fireplace she had indicated.

"Was it really necessary to scare the poor girl like that Emma?" Regulus said under his breath when he was sure that they were out of ear shot. "She looked like she was going to pass out."

"Reg, I practically grew up in the army. You don't get to be a high ranking officer by being nice to people. Everyone has their breaking point including her. You just have to know the right words to get yourself what you want. Some crack under pressure, others hold out a little bit longer. She was obviously of the weaker aspect."

Regulus smiled and rolled his eyes, silently thanking Merlin that Emma was his friend and on his side. Her background was incredibly handy in situations like this. She would have no trouble going up against the head of the DMLE. She had spent most of her life chasing down criminals and getting out of hairy situations, he was trusting her abilities here.

Once they stepped out of the fireplace into the branch of the Ministry that was the DMLE, Natasha wanted to laugh at how much of a Muggle office it looked.

They were in a long grey hallway lined with offices. There was a lunchroom to the right side where everyone seemed to be talking in excited hushed tones over their meals. Natasha was sure that the capture of Sirius Black had something to do with it.

A wizard dressed in the red Auror robes was walking toward them with a thick file in his hand and stopped upon seeing the strangers. Regulus took advantage of the momentary silence.

"Excuse me," he said. "But can you please tell me where the office of Amelia Bones is located? It's highly important that my wife and I speak with her at once."

The Auror looked them over in that way that police officers do when they're sizing someone up to determine whether or not they're a threat. Natasha stared into his eyes without blinking and something seemed to click in those irises that he couldn't intimidate her, which could only mean that they were serious and weren't there to play."

"It's the corner office on the left," he said. "The one right at the end of the hallway. There's a plaque on the door. She should be in there."

They thanked him and headed in the direction that he pointed. Natasha watched as he walked into the lunch room and said a few words to his colleagues before they turned and looked at the odd but beautiful couple passing by who were obviously foreigners.

She made a note to remember their faces for later.

Taking Regulus's arm again, the two of them hurried down the hallway where they made a left at the end and came even with a solid oak door bearing a bronze plaque with the words: _Amelia Bones: Chief Officer of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement._

"You ready for this?" Natasha asked as they stood outside the door, never dropping her French accent.

Regulus blew out a breath of air. "I think so," he said following her lead. "I just hope everything goes well."

"Reg, in everything I've learned in my life…don't think…..don't hope…just go. Because that's the only way you're going to be able to find out what happens next."

With that, she reached out a hand and knocked on the door solidly.

There was a moment of silence before a voice from behind the door called out: "Come in!"

Natasha went to put her hand on the door but was stopped for a second by Regulus. "At first, let me handle the talking," he said. "I knew Amelia in school. She was a little older than me but I knew enough about her to determine her character. She's tough but fair and she's the kind of person who would never take a bribe in a million years. So if someone's going to be toughest person to fool here, then it would be her."

Natasha nodded, and the younger Black reached for the door knob, twisted….and pushed it open.

Ω

As it turned out, Regulus was right.

In some ways, Amelia Bones reminded Natasha a little bit of a mix of herself and her older sister Antonina. She was a fiery red head who had sharp eyes and a tough persona that had Natasha, despite her, liking her. Under different circumstances, the two of them could have been good friends.

After inviting them in and asking them to sit down, Regulus introduced himself and Natasha and got right into the story. Throughout it, Natasha would interject certain points. She knew they couldn't be pushy or use threats here because that would get them nowhere, and so she adopted a more respectful tone, and part of it wasn't strictly an act, she kind of liked the woman.

When the tale had finished being told, Madam Bones, or Amelia as she had asked them to call her, sat back in her chair and let out a breath.

"Let me see if I understand you correctly, Lord Black," she said and Regulus breathed a sigh of relief at the moniker. He knew they had done a successful job of convincing her of the truth of what they were saying.

"You and your wife Antoinette are from an obscure branch of the Black Family and have demonstrated an aptitude for Magical Creatures, dedicating your life to chasing them around the globe and studying them. You came back to Europe for a brief hiatus before starting out on expedition again and that was when you saw the article about your third cousin…..many times removed in the Daily Prophet and decided to come down here to see if you could get him released is that right?"

"It is," Regulus said calmly. "I'm thankful Anne and I came back when we did. I've only met Sirius a few times in my life but we have always got along and it would be such a shame for an innocent man to go to prison on account of something he didn't do."

"Indeed," the head of the DMLE said leaning back in her chair and folding her hands in front of her. "And just what is it that makes you so convinced of his innocence? There are eye witness accounts of his murdering twelve Muggles as well as Peter Pettigrew in a Muggle street in London. That is going to be somewhat difficult to refute."

"Were you on the team of Aurors that apprehended Sirius Black Madam Bones?" Natasha asked.

"No I was not," Amelia replied. "That was before my time here I'm afraid. I was still part of the Auror training school."

"Then you must understand how irregular it was that he was simply carted off to Azkaban immediately. Was a trial even performed to determine the extent of his guilt?"

A muscle jerked in the other red head's cheek and Natasha realized that this was a sore spot with her. It was obvious that she hadn't approved of the measures that had been taken regarding Sirius. That just might make her sympathetic to their side.

Regulus had latched on to this small fact too. "Tell me Madam Bones did the head Auror tasked with incarcerating the accused even check his arm to determine whether or not he was a follower of the Dark Lord?"

Amelia's face tightened and Natasha realized with cool confidence that they were finally getting somewhere.

"Again Lord Black, that was before my time," she said leaning forward in her desk. "But in the interest of full disclosure, I will tell you that ascertaining Black's guilt has always been a concern of mine. I have tried a few times since I have held this position to investigate the case myself, but the Minister, Fudge, has always shut me down."

"Interesting," Regulus said leaning back in his chair and pretending to think. "And why was it so important to the Minister to…..sweep this under the rug so to speak?"

Amelia snorted softly. "I believe that he wished for the public to know he was being proactive with regards to the Death Eaters still running about after Voldemort's fall and dragging out a long and arduous trial wasn't an appealing possibility for him."

"You understand our position Madam Bones," Natasha said taking over. "We simply want justice to be done for Octavius's cousin and it would be highly scandalous if it were to be found out that Sirius was an innocent man who spent a substantial amount of time in prison for a crime he didn't commit."

"May we at least see him?" Regulus asked, sensing the woman was wavering slightly. He had always secretly admired Amelia in school because she possessed a strength of character that few had, but she also had a shrewdness that would have made her perfect for Slytherin House.

"Before I can allow you to see the accused," she began. "You must understand that we simply can't let anyone into the holding cells. It must first be determined that you are who you say you are and then we can speak about visiting rights."

"Of course Madam," Natasha said. "By all means run a check on us."

Amelia gave a sharp nod and then pulled out her wand. _Expecto Patronum."_

At once a silvery badger shot from the tip of the wood and materialized in front of her. "Please fetch Rufus Scrimgeour and tell him that I wish to speak with him immediately."

The silvery creature disappeared out the door and Natasha made a mental note to ask Regulus to teach her that charm. There was so much she needed to catch up on, having a magical daughter and all. If she was going to teach Hermione a little bit about her heritage from the beginning, she was going to have to be pretty well versed in magic. Thankfully she had Sirius and Regulus around to teach her.

It didn't take more than a few minutes for the door behind them to open and produce a tall wiry man of middle age with brown curly hair and sharp eyes like the red head across from them. His eyes coolly took in the newcomers before zeroing in on his boss. "You wanted to see me Amelia?"

"I did Rufus. I need you to do me a favor. Can you please send down to the Hall of Records and see if there is an Octavius Black and his wife Antoinette in the annals of the Black family?"

"Of course."

He turned and strode out the door without asking any more questions. Natasha, just to make them look ever more convincing, reached out and took Regulus's hand to give off the vibe of a supportive wife. The more they could sell this the better.

Now here's where the plan wasn't dependent upon them and that put both the witch and the wizard a little on edge because they didn't know how the plan would go. After a week of doing research they did indeed determine that there was an Octavius Black that had been married to a French pureblood by the name of Antoinette in their family history. He and she had died about a decade before though and they had also had a passion for magical creatures. So much so that they had left their wealth behind in order to travel the world and study the beasts. They were odd and somewhat eccentric, but because they had died in pursuit of a rare type of dragon breed in the jungles of the Amazon, their deaths had not been recorded by the Ministry. Antoinette's family had died out a few years ago as well so there was no one from her branch to corroborate or refute their story. They had both been proficient wandless magic users so their life couldn't even be traced in their wands from the types of spells they had used.

All in all it was an ideal situation because the both of them had been born in Europe and according to the records of the Ministry were still living there to that day. All they had to do was play it cool and things would go according to plan.

Natasha wasn't naïve enough to think that everything would go off without a hitch, there had would be contingencies. But she and Regulus had prepared for them.

Along with brewing the Draught of Living Death for Sirius, they had taken several days and brewed Felix Felicis, or the luck potion as well. Being a Slytherin, Regulus must have had so inherent gene that ensured he was good at the discipline for while it was difficult to brew, they had managed it alright.

Potions was another thing Natasha was going to have to learn.

They had decided to take a quarter of a cupful of the mixture just so their unnatural good luck wouldn't become noticeable. Something Felix Felicis did was that it didn't change a person's circumstances, it gave the person who drank it the necessary skills to succeed in spite of them. So a person could be in prison, but if they were to drink the potion, it would give them the necessary skills, whether verbal or physical in order to get out of it.

In no time at all, Scrimgeour returned and handed over a thick file to the head of the DMLE and Regulus and Natasha held their breath. Well Regulus did, Natasha's nerves were far too iron clad for that, but she did feel her muscles tense ever so slightly, though she fought not to let it show.

Amelia took a long time to look through the file and they both could tell she was examining every page carefully for signs of untruth at all.

At last however, she shut the file with a snap and turned to look at them with steely eyes.

"Well your story checks out, I'll have an Auror take you down to see him immediately. Rufus, if you would?"

The stern faced Auror nodded and waited until the couple had gotten to their feet before following them out.

"This way," he said and led them back to the fireplace. By this time, when they passed the lunchroom, everyone was silent, watching them. Natasha made sure to give them a smile to indicate all was well and some of them nodded and smiled back at her.

Rufus took them down a few floors until they were in the basement of the Ministry and exited a fireplace with a long corridor leading to a simple brown door at the other end. When they opened the door, they were presented with a corridor which had six cells on either side. There was only one door out, the door they had come through and each cell as well as the door was warded with strong magic.

All in all it was far cleaner and more comfortable than the cells in Azkaban and as opposed to that place, Natasha was sure that it would have felt like heaven for some.

The other Auror led them along the cells on the left hand side until they reached the middle one and came upon Sirius lying on his back eyes closed on the cot in the cell. He was as still as if he was dead and only those who knew what he had taken could tell the difference.

"Do you know if he'll wake up?" Natasha asked Scrimgeour. He shrugged.

"We don't know, but if he does, there will be a problem was to what to do next."

"What do you mean?" Regulus asked.

Scrimgeour leaned in closer even though there was no one else in the cells at the time. "Between the three of us, Amelia has been gunning to set the Auror Department to rights after she was made its head almost a year ago. She wanted to determine for herself whether or not the ambiguous persons in Azkaban were actually guilty and Sirius Black was at the top of her list. She came to be head of the Department about six months after he was put in prison and she always thought that something was a little bit off about his case."

_Well that's encouraging, _Natasha thought. _It might be the potion talking, but maybe we can come out of this thing with Sirius was a free man. _

"There are two things I would ask of you if you please," Regulus said turning to the Auror.

"Of course."

"Would you notify me immediately if and when he wakes up? And secondly, is it possible to request a trial for him now that someone is here to speak for him?"

"The first I can do without question and the second….a trial has to be requested before the Wizengamot by someone in Magical Law Enforcement or the head of an Ancient House. Since you are such, it would be possible for you to do so with an appeal. But since your right to the head of House Black is still shaky given the distance of your relation it might perhaps be better to pair your appeal with a request from the DMLE to lend weight to your cause. Fudge will dig his feet in against giving Black here a trial but if you play your cards right, you may be able to overrule him."

He turned and faced the bars. "But it's going to take a whole lot of luck to him out from behind bars if you're fighting against Fudge and his undersecretary."

Natasha turned back to the sleeping Sirius on his cot while Regulus went about thanking Scrimgeour for his help and advice.

_Trust me pal…..luck's got nothing…and everything to do with it. _

Ω

The pair waited until they had exited the Ministry completely before Regulus blew out a breath of air.

"So what do you think?" he asked as they hurried away to find an alley to disapparate. "Do you think we have a chance of winning this thing?"

Natasha didn't answer until they were in the backyard of Petunia's house before she answered. The snow was pretty high for January and they had to kick their boots off pretty hard before entering the house.

Petunia was back with the babies early and she had obviously spent some time cooking because the whole house was filled with the delicious sent of a chicken stew and fresh baked bread. Natasha didn't realize how hungry she was until her stomach growled quietly.

The blonde who was at the stove stirring the soup with a pot whirled around at the sound of the door opening and grinned when she saw them.

"So?" she asked, wiping her hands on a dish cloth. "How did it go? Were you able to get Sirius a trial?"

"Its in the works," Regulus said as he hung up his coat and took off his boots. He gave Petunia a kiss on the cheek, causing her to go cherry red and Natasha to snort. "We have to send in a written appeal to the Wizengamot and one of the Aurors suggested that we pair it with a request from the DMLE for it to be sent through and for the members to take it seriously. But I think our chances of getting an appeal from them were pretty good considering that the chief Auror was pretty sympathetic."

After changing out of their winter clothes, Natasha and Regulus sat down with Petunia and the babies to eat supper which was as delicious as it smelled and Riley curled up at the door on top of the heater to keep warm.

From there, they explained to the blonde exactly what had happened and how they were going to go about it.

"Amelia seems like a nice person," Petunia mused when they were finished. "It's good that the magical police force has someone like her to keep people in line. I think Lily mentioned her once or twice when they were in school. She said she was pretty smart and that the truth was important to her."

"That certainly described Bones to a T," Regulus replied. "I think we have a pretty good chance of getting that request if she's on our side."

And again, as Natasha had mentioned earlier, luck had _everything _to do with it.

Sirius woke a few days later and while Fudge wanted him immediately thrown back into Azkaban, Amelia Bones was able to stall the process long enough to send one of her Aurors and healer to examine him.

They didn't find any trace of the Dark Mark on him which was information that didn't take long to get out. The next morning there was an article in the Daily Prophet asking the question of whether or not justice had been done for Sirius Black.

After that Regulus wasted no time in sending off an appeal to the Wizengamot and a letter to the DMLE requesting Amelia's assistance in this matter.

It didn't take her long to reply back and tell him that he had it though tentatively. She was now pretty sure of Sirius's innocence but was reserving her own personal opinion until they went before the courts and the Veritaserum was administered.

That was another tricky issue that Natasha and Regulus had planned for. They knew one of the questions was going to be who had helped Sirius escape and under the truth potion, it was impossible to lie.

But that was where Felix Felicis had come into play again. Sirius couldn't obviously keep such a potion on his person as he would have been searched when he was found, so they had had to go about it in another way.

Natasha had seen many methods of people smuggling drugs and precious articles into other countries and one of the most foolproof ways they had done it, was to have a sample of said object stitched into the inside of their mouth. The stitches were so tiny and almost undetectable for Muggle doctors and law enforcement to catch. It was also a method that members of opposing sides had used in the Second World War. If they were captured by the enemy, they were to bite the inside of their cheek where a poison sack was hidden that would kill them instantly so they wouldn't be tortured for information.

The process was similar here. Natasha had had to smuggle items into Russia like this before and she had had to do it to others when the situation demanded it. So before Sirius had left to apparate to Hogsmeade, she had put him out with an anesthetic she had taken when she still worked at the dentist's office and after that had proceed to cut a small slit in the inner wall of his left cheek before inserting a small plastic packet of Felix Felicis in there. It had been warded beforehand to prevent it from dissolving and then she had sealed his mouth up again.

Since the magical community didn't have X Rays, no one would notice it and when he was put on trial, all he had to do was bite down on the inside of his mouth to release the potion. It would be painful and he would probably bleed a little but the potion would do the trick and he would be able to successfully tell the truth while still managing to avoid his co-conspirators.

Natasha was actually a little pleased with the plan they had come up with. It guaranteed that Sirius would be honest and remain a free man at the same time.

She and Regulus and Petunia spent the next few days drawing up the formal appeal and then sending it to the DMLE where it could be processed by Amelia Bones before she added a letter to it with her request for the trial and sent it off to the Wizengamot.

After that….all there was to do was wait.

Which as it turned out was the hardest part of the whole process. Natasha was a woman of action and Regulus had been inactive for too long to be completely patient for any sort of endurance anymore so after two days, they were about to go nuts.

However, it didn't take long to get the ball rolling and as the three of them were sitting in Petunia's kitchen eating breakfast that Saturday morning almost a week after Regulus had issued the appeal a tawny owl suddenly flew in bearing an envelope with an official looking seal on it and nearly dropped it in Regulus's oatmeal before he caught it.

Without waiting to look at the seal, he tore it open and scanned the page excitedly.

"What is it Reg?" Petunia asked as she stopped Dudley from knocking the basket of rolls off the table just in the nick of time.

The younger Black didn't answer at first, but judging from his growing smirk, Natasha had a guess as to what the letter contained.

When he was finally through, he refolded the letter and set it down by his plate and grinned at her.

"Better get ready Emma, we're going to court. The Wizengamot has granted our request for an appeal. Siri is going to get a trial!"

Ω

**Okay so first off...I'm sorry it took me nearly two months to update this story. But I'm back now and this one is a little bit longer to make it up to you guys. I hope you guys like it, don't forget to review. Next up will be Sirius's trial along with a few twists! Enjoy!**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16

Despite the fact that Hermione hadn't seen her father in a while, she wasn't unaware of the fact that something was missing.

Her little four year old demi god brain functioned in the way a jigsaw puzzle would. Everything fit together in a seamless whole in her world. Her mother occupied the top tier of the hierarchy, then came her two best friends Dudley and Harry along with Aunt Tuney and Riley and Uncle Reg. She still wasn't sure what to make of the man Uncle Reg called "Siri" but he was interesting to say the least.

But again…. there always seemed to be something missing. Harry and Duddy had Uncle Reg for their daddy, but Mummy didn't have anybody. And Hermione couldn't help but think that her Mummy should have somebody because her Mummy was so pretty.

Men would look at Mummy oddly when they went for a walk to the park or down to the library with Harry and Dudley and while the boys never noticed it, Hermione couldn't help but think it was a little odd.

She had never asked her Mummy where she had come from but she was a little curious. Mummy had dark brown curls and Hermione had strawberry blonde locks and sea blue green eyes. Mummy had green eyes too, but they were a pale green, like a jade.

There were times when Hermione had caught her Mummy looking out the window with an absent minded expression on her face, just staring into the sky as if it was creating the prettiest picture. She never asked her Mummy what she was staring at, if it was the clouds or the sky or maybe something beyond that, but she had been doing it a lot lately and Hermione was becoming more and more curious.

If Natasha noticed her daughter's inquisitive nature with her knack for cloud watching, she didn't say anything.

At the moment, she was in the midst of helping Regulus prepare for his brother's trial and keeping her daughter and her two best friends from pulling all of Aunt Petunia's hair out.

However, there were a few times in the next few days when she was cleaning out her dresser drawer, and the red head spotted something that she hadn't seen in about a year.

It was a picture she had taken of him.

Looking at it and him holding Hermione when she was about seven months old, Natasha felt this odd lump swell up in her throat and she had to swallow hard a few times in order to get rid of it.

She didn't know why she hadn't framed it and had just shoved it to the bottom of her dresser drawer absently.

And then she knew.

It was because she had been afraid.

Afraid that Hermione would come into her room one day curious, see the picture and be full of questions about who that man was. A man she had seen before, but never really understood. She didn't want to have to explain to Hermione why her father couldn't be there all the time and why he had been missing for two years.

Natasha knew one day she would have to when her daughter grew old enough, but for the moment, she was going to play chicken. She knew that was highly outside of her character, but there were just some things one shouldn't talk about until they were old enough to understand.

So in the meantime to distract herself from the absence of a certain tall handsome blonde, she threw herself into helping Reg prepare for Sirius's trial.

Natasha liked Sirius, she really did. But he had a peculiar sort of arrogance to himself that wasn't appealing. And she didn't know why, but it was bothering her where it came from. It seemed like he was self-entitled and extremely biased to a certain way of thinking and the ones who didn't adhere to that strain of cognition were automatically wrong.

So one afternoon when Petunia had taken the three four year olds into the kitchen to keep them out of the way when Natasha and Regulus were working on their defence, the red head decided she couldn't keep being curious anymore.

"Reg, can I ask you something?"

"Of course," the young man said, not even looking up from the enormous textbook he was reading on wizarding law.

Natasha pondered how to ask her question but then remembered she was still at heart a Red Room Agent and worked currently for the British Secret Service, she had always used the direct approach before, why wouldn't it work now?

"Has Sirius always been so…arrogant?"

That caught his attention and Regulus pushed the book aside. "What do you mean Emma?"

"Reg I've spent my entire life communicating with people. I know every single expression that people make that is known to man, which pretty much means that I am as close to reading someone's mind as is humanly possible and even after four years prison, you can't change someone's personality. Sirius has this sense of entitlement and an air of borderline arrogance when he talks. When he first met Harry was I was astonished that he didn't try to take him from Petunia. Has he always been that way?"

A rainbow of expression seemed to pass over the younger Black's face. At first he looked upset, then he looked pensive, finally contemplative and finally a little sad. He took a deep breath, pushed the textbook to one side and gave her his full attention

"Arrogance has always been one of Siri's many flaws. He hated our family growing up, claimed they were all dark and hated the houses that they went to, Slytherin of course being the tradition of the Black family."

Natasha nodded.

"But there was no one he hated more than Severus Snape," Regulus continued. "Severus was in Slytherin with me and we were really good friends. But I think one of the reasons that he hated Sev so much was because of the fact that he dared to be friends with the prettiest girl in the whole school who happened to be a Gryffindor. Back then, there was an enormous rivalry between the lions and the snakes.

"But Severus and Lily, yes Petunia's sister Lily," he said when he saw her raise an eyebrow. "Didn't care about all that. You know that Lily was a Muggleborn and they weren't really welcome in Hogwarts at the time. There were a lot of blood supremacists in Slytherin house and they didn't appreciate the fact that one of their own dared to be friends with one.

"And then James Potter and Siri came into the picture," Regulus said with a grimace. "James had always had a crush on Lily and he couldn't stand the fact that someone he called a dirty snake was friends with her. I kept my opinions to myself because I didn't think the relationship was right either, I didn't want to interfere. Then they had some kind of falling out in fifth year. James and Sirius who had bullied Severus all through their school years played a very cruel prank on him and in a fit of rage, he called Lily a nasty name and she never spoke to him after despite the fact that he apologized repeatedly. Then she started dating James Potter and they got married after school ended and she never saw Severus again.

"So yes Emma, Sirius is still very arrogant and because James was his best friend, Sirius began to see Lily as a piece of property belonging to his best mate. He would deny it with his last breath, but in the back of our minds we all knew it was true. He thought Severus the lowest of low and undeserving of Lily because of the stupid house rivalry we had going on and he took every opportunity to tell him that. And in the end, Lily succumbed to the pressure of her house mates to break off the relationship. But in my personal opinion, I think she was just looking for reasons to end it anyway because she was one of the most self-righteous people I've ever met and didn't consider anyone else's opinion. Since Severus was my friend, I am a little biased, but she didn't even hear him out. And that wasn't fair seeing as how when he called her that name, she called him one right back. He apologized but she never did."

Natasha was quiet for a long moment as she pondered the new information. "Now you see this is why I hate teenage girls. They're self-righteous, arrogant and incredibly narrow minded and judgemental."

Regulus barked a short laugh. "You were a teenage girl once too Emma."

Natasha levelled him with a look. "I was inducted into military service when I was fifteen years old Reg. I didn't have time to be a teenage girl. And I didn't want to be after my parents and sister died."

Regulus fell quiet for a moment. "How did they die Emma?" he asked.

"In a house fire," came the reply. "I was eight years old when it happened. My adoptive father Ivan pulled me out and took care of me until I was fifteen when I joined the military."

"Why'd you want to join them so young? You had the rest of your life to decide," Regulus asked curiously.

"I didn't have much of a life after my parents and Nina were killed," Natasha replied calmly. "And because I was the last of the Romanovs people would try to use me. Ivan knew I was a witch, I think one of his cousins had been one as well and she told him that Russia wizarding society was even more cutthroat than England's and because I was essentially pureblood wizarding royalty people would want to take care of me to further political goals. Its one of the reasons I left magic behind for the next decade and a half."

"I get that," Regulus replied thoughtfully. "Sirius and I are the last of the Blacks, well the last ones that haven't been disinherited that is and we're still pretty influential as well. We're not royalty though," he said, trying to get her to laugh and was rewarded with a small smile.

"And speaking of political intrigue, what say we get back to this search for ways to get Sirius acquitted in his trial?" she suggested and Regulus agreed.

But as she went to bed that night, Natasha couldn't help but feel a little wary of the older Black. She liked Regulus enough, he was Petunia's boyfriend and had made her immensely happy. He was a good father figure for Harry and Dudley, he was calm collected, a fair judge of character and very compassionate. It seemed that being in a coma for the better part of a year had done wonders for his prejudiced distribution. She had a feeling that soon wedding bells would be in the air.

Sirius was the only one she was a little wary about however. If what Regulus had said was true and his arrogance had yet to change, she was going to watch him closely. He was a decent person, but she didn't want her daughter to grow up with prejudiced ideals if he was going to be around a lot. And if she caught him saying anything bad about the former houses at Hogwarts since that was where her daughter and her best friends were going, she was going to have a word with Petunia. Petunia had more of an access to Harry as it was anyway since they were related by blood and if Regulus became his stepfather, he would have a voice in the magical world as well.

Natasha felt bad thinking such things but having grown up suspicious of anyone and everyone who crossed her path, it was like second nature to her. She didn't want to be judging Sirius as she had only know him four about six weeks, but until he had proven that he had changed, she was going to be keeping an eye on him.

Meanwhile if he did something that was overtly prejudiced she was going to talk to Petunia about her concerns. She knew the blonde didn't want to deprive Harry of his godfather, but at the same time, it was important that Harry grew up with an open mind and learned to see the value in all persons despite their status or in this case, the house they were in when they went to school.

Ω

When the day of trial came, Regulus was a nervous wreck and Natasha had to be the one to keep him together as they apparated in disguise to downtown London where they descended the streets and then flooed to the Ministry. Petunia had agreed to keep the four year olds busy for the day and told them to call her the minute a verdict was decided.

They weren't allowed to see Sirius before he was brought into the courtroom in chains but Natasha was confident that there would be no need to discuss premeditated plans. She had told him before he had apparated to Hogsmeade that as soon as the Veritaserum was administered he had to bite the inside of his cheek to access the Felix Felicis and he had to do it before they started asking questions. It would be a tight window and it was the only thing she was still a little on edge about, but she was confident that he would be able to pull it off.

She and Regulus sat down in the front row of the courtroom which was already filling with people and reporters from the Daily Prophet. They had had to surrender their wands at the door to one of the court bailiffs and while Natasha was still new to the idea of carrying a wand around, she hadn't wanted to hand it over. It would be like surrendering her gun, it made her feet vulnerable and while she still had two thin stiletto knives hidden inside the soles of her shoes, she still felt exposed without the familiar cold metal pressing against her waistband.

But she did her best to quell the feeling and took a few deep breaths as she sat next to Regulus waiting for the trial to begin.

As she did so, Natasha took a minute to look the courtroom over and see if there were any hidden places from which someone could come. There was a balcony right above the judges' bench where she could already see that some tall robed men had taken their seats. They were dressed in varying colors of grey and black and many of them look like stiff upper crust aristocracy. They were the kind of men she would like to pull on their chains. They only had one way of doing things and that was traditional.

The judge's seat of the Wizengamot was still empty but she could clearly see the plaque even from this distance and it read: Albus Dumbledore.

That name sounded awfully familiar and then she remembered that this was the man responsible for depositing Harry on Petunia's doorstep three years ago like he was some sort of milk bottle and her eyes narrowed.

Natasha despised people who thought of children as something to be manipulated and used. She may have killed for a living but children were something that she would never harm. The fact that this man had left a child out on a stoop in the cold November where some animal could have come along and bitten or harmed him in the middle of the night made her blood boil.

Regulus caught the focus of her attention and clamped a hand down on her own. "Easy Emma," he whispered. "Whatever your feelings for the man are I share them for what he did to Harry. But he's our ticket to getting Siri out of prison. We have to make nice."

Natasha gritted her teeth and said nothing.

"I should warn you, Dumbledore's also famous for his use of Legilimency. There were rumors when I was at school that he was used to look into the minds of students. They were never proven because if they were, than he would have been dismissed. But he may try and use it here today. If he does, take your thoughts somewhere else. Anywhere else but this court room."

"He can read my mind?" Natasha whispered fiercely.

"It's not so much mind reading as it is seeing your memories," Regulus replied. "It's difficult to explain. Once we get out of here, I'll tell you everything, but for right now if he looks at you, do what I said."

There wasn't time to say much more after that because all of a sudden the door to the left of the chambers opened and a man in a green bowler hat and long blue robes walked in. At his side was a short squat woman with short brown hair dressed disturbingly in pink from head to toe. She reminded Natasha little bit of a toad and she disliked her right away. From the way Regulus began to mutter curses under his breath, he was having the same train of thought as she was.

"That's Delores Umbridge," he muttered into her ear. "A royal pain the ass if I ever saw one. Everyone at school hated her."

"Was she a teacher?" Natasha whispered back.

"No, she and the man next to her, the one in the green bowler hat, Cornelius Fudge, were gunning for the Minister of Magic position. From what I hear she's now his undersecretary. I was hoping she wouldn't be here, but it's just our luck that she is."

"Do you think she'll call us to the stand?"

"She can't but her boss might and she has enough power that she can say what she wants and ask us questions anyway."

"Great," Natasha muttered.

"Just try to keep cool and don't let her get a rise out of you. She's a manipulative old biddy but she's powerless without Fudge. Keep that in mind and this will all go off without a hitch."

Natasha was just about to answer when the door to the rear of the chair where Albus Dumbledore was sitting opened and another familiar red head came out wearing the long red robes that indicated her as chief Auror.

When Amelia Bones saw them, she gave them a brief nod before sitting down just to the right of Dumbledore. She was dressed in the long dark robes of a cross examiner and not the red robes of an Auror which served to make Regulus more relieved as that meant she would be acting in the capacity of questioning his brother.

Natasha meanwhile was taking in everyone carefully as the trial appeared about to start.

Suddenly, the large doors of the courtroom from which everyone entered and which had been previously shut were thrown open and everyone, including Natasha and Regulus jumped to their feet to see two fully uniformed Aurors bringing in the man of the hour.

Sirius was dressed more presentably for a trial, in simple dark robes buttoned up to his neck and tall black boots up to his knees. He made eye contact with no one as he was brought in and Natasha was glad of this because if he had glanced at them, it would have drawn attention and the last thing she needed was the toad in pink and the frog in the bowler hat getting ammunition to use on them.

Not that they'd actually be smart enough to know what to do with it anyway.

"All rise for the Supreme Mugwump," Amelia Bones called out as every got to their feet and Sirius was chained to his chair.

Cameras were flashing all around the court room and Natasha felt her annoyance spike. The press were some of the lowest leaches that populated this given area.

Once Sirius was chained to his chair, everyone seated themselves and the trial began.

"Sirius Black," Amelia began formally. "You have been accused of the murder of twelve innocent Muggles along with the murder of Peter Pettigrew and serving the Dark Lord. How do you plead?"

"Not guilty," Black replied in a strong voice.

There was a murmuring from the crowd gathered and many glances were exchanged. Natasha and Regulus exchanged glances.

"If the Veritaserum would now be administered so we can corroborate – "

"Excuse me Madam Bones," a sickeningly sweet voice interrupted and all eyes turned to the toad in the pink who had seated herself behind a desk on the floor of the courtroom. She had gotten halfway to her feet and had her beady little eyes fixed on Sirius. "May I cross examine the accused for a moment?"

Fudge nodded, indicating that she had his permission and looked a little smug. Amelia pursed her lips and anyone could see that she was annoyed. "If you desire it Madam Umbridge but please keep your questions relevant and to the point. It will not benefit the courtroom if you drag into unnecessary diatribe."

Umbridge's tiny eyes narrowed slightly, but she kept her smile in place. "Of course Madam Bones. It would never occur to me to waste the courts time."

_Oh it occurs to me that that seems to be your exact intention, _Natasha thought to herself. She ground her teeth together in an attempt at distraction but it didn't do much. Judging from Reg's locked jaw, he was far from please either.

"Mr. Black," Umbridge began, approaching the chair where Regulus's brother was contained. "Is it true that you were broken out of Azkaban on the night of December 6th by masked persons unknown to the wizarding society and the Ministry of Magic?"

"You know, seeing as how I'm sitting in this chair in front of you, and not still locked up there I would think that you already know the answer," Sirius replied, a half smile on his face.

_Damn it Siri, this is not the time to get smart!_ Regulus thought to himself.

"Answer the question if you please Mr. Black," Fudge said from behind her at the desk but he hardly sounded intimidating. In fact with the green bowler hat and how red his face was getting, he resembled the Lucky Charms Leprechaun that adorned Hermione's favorite cereal box.

Natasha pursed her lips and coughed quietly so no one could tell she was laughing. Regulus shot her an odd look but she ignored it.

"Of course honorable Minister," Sirius said still smirking. "Yes, I was sprung from prison by masked intruders."

The buzz in the courtroom grew louder, and Dumbledore, who had previously said nothing up to this point hammered on the block of wood with his gavel. "Order in the court please."

"Did you or did you not participate in the fighting that hereafter ensued?" Umbridge went on.

"I did not have a wand at the time, so no I did not," Sirius replied. No witch or wizard would ever think that another witch or wizard would lower themselves to using their fists as weapons so he knew that wouldn't be another question.

"Who were these masked assailants?" Umbridge demanded and Natasha could see that she was getting irritated.

"I couldn't see their faces," Sirius replied calmly. This was true, Natasha had ensured that she and Reg had worn masks so the guards wouldn't have been able to identify them. It served another purpose here."

It was then that Umbridge decided to get in his face. "Understand this Mr. Black," she hissed. "We can tell if you are lying. And if we find out it will be straight back to Azkaban."

To his credit Sirius didn't flinch. She didn't scare him, he had a foolproof alibi and since Amelia had attested to seeing that he bore no Dark Mark, the only thing he was on trial for was being broken out of Azkaban.

It was then that Umbridge locked eyes with Regulus and Natasha. She turned to Dumbledore with a flourish.

"Supreme Mugwump I call Mr. Black's only remaining family Octavius Black to the stand."

To his credit Regulus didn't flinch. He was very grateful that Emma had prepared him for every contingency however.

"Permission granted," Dumbledore said after a long pause.

Calmly, Regulus got up and made his way to the witness stand. He walked with long determined strides. He seated himself in the lowered seat behind the wooden panel to the left of Dumbledore and folded his hands in his lap with one eyebrow raised at Umbridge as if he was bored.

_I taught him well, _Natasha thought absently.

"Lord Black," Umbrideg began. "If I am to understand this correctly, you and wife came back into town when you heard that your cousin had been falsely imprisoned is that right?"

"No madam," Regulus said calmly. "We came back to England to sell one of our houses and while we were here we learned that my cousin had escaped from prison. After doing some checking within the archives, it was discovered that my cousin never had a trial. A terrible injustice on the part of the Ministry don't you agree?"

One of Umbridge's eyebrows twitched ever so slightly. No one else would have noticed it, but Natasha, being practiced at reading those minute facial indicators picked up on it easily.

"Indeed," she said in that sickeningly sweet voice of her. "A grave miscarriage. I can only assume how glad you are now that justice is being carried out."

"Of course madam," Regulus said with a slight smile on his face. "But I doubt my interpretation of justice and your interpretation are the same thing."

Her sugary sweet smile dipped into what could only be called diabetic levels. "I did not call you to the stand to discuss our varying opinions of justice Lord Black."

"Then why did you call him to the stand Madam Umbridge?" Amelia Bones broke in. "Have you conceived of some relevant line of questioning or does this borderline badgering hold some sort of significance for you?"

Umbridge's face turned a lovely shade of puce, but somehow she managed to keep her cool. And then she turned toward Natasha with another sickeningly sweet smile on her face.

"Very well then, I call Antoinette Desjardins Black to the stand."

They hadn't prepared for this part, but Natasha knew her way around an interrogation well enough to make the person who was questioning her want to squirm.

Regulus got down from the stand the two of them passed each other quickly as she made her way up and took the spot that he had occupied. She folded her hands in her lap and looked at Umbridge with a polite smile.

"Lady Black," Umbridge began. "How long have you known know Sirius Black?"

Natasha smiled. "Not long Madam, a several years ago, an engagement party was thrown for Tav and I and he was there. Tav introduced me to him and we had a brief conversation about what we planned to do with our lives. We've had several floo calls since then and a number of letters. It wasn't frequent but we would stay in touch."

"Would you happen to have these letters Lady Black?" Umbridge asked, eyes lighting up as if she had just pounced upon a juicy morsel.

Natasha smiled lazily. "I'm afraid not Madam. You see my husband and I like to travel the world studying strange magical creatures, we never saved any of the letters as we moved all over."

The undersecretary's face had turned sour. "Am I to understand Lady Black that you and your husband had nothing to do with Sirius Black's flight from prison?"

"Objection!" Amelia Bones burst out. "She's badgering the witness, Madam Umbridge has no information other than to try and harass the witness into making untrue concessions."

"Sustained," Dumbledore said. "Madam Umbridge do you have anything relevant to ask the witnesses or we can we proceed with the more important aspects of this trial?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow at her.

_I got you bitch. _

Umbridge's patience must have worn thin at this point because she turned on her heel and marched back to her seat. "The Veritaserum may now be administered."

Amelia raised an eyebrow at her, as if to ask, _are you in charge or am I?_ But she said nothing and jerked her head at the guard who came forward with the potion.

Both Natasha and Regulus tensed as Sirius the guard neared. But just as the truth serum was administered and swallowed, Natasha caught the faint twitch of a muscle jerking in Sirius's cheek and knew he had swallowed the Felix Felicis.

She bit down on her lip so no one would see her smiling. They had this in the bag.

"What is your name?" the guard asked and if Natasha didn't know that this was the standard proceeding of questioning a suspect, she would have rolled her eyes at how redundant it was.

"Sirius Black."

"Have you or have you not ever been a Death Eater or carried out illicit activities for the self-styled Lord Voldemort?"

"No."

The murmuring was getting louder and as Natasha began to look around the room, she could see the confusion on many faces. Umbridge and Fudge however looked livid. But they couldn't dispute the testimony because there was no way to get around Veritaserum.

"Do you know who broke you out of Azkaban?" Amelia said when it looked like Umbridge was about to speak up.

"I told you, their faces were covered," Sirius replied in that blank voice he had when under the influence of the truth serum. "I couldn't see who they were."

"But did you know who they were from their voices?" Umbridge asked diving in for the kill.

Regulus who had put his hand on Natasha's knee just for some support of his own tightened that hand marginally. Natasha refrained from looking at him as she was looking too hard at the suspect in the chair.

"No I didn't," Sirius said clearly and Natasha blinked.

How had he done that? He had known who Regulus was when he heard his voice the first and second time he had gone to visit.

_But he didn't know you, _a small voice in her head said. And then it clicked.

In order to get around the truth serum, one couldn't lie, but that didn't mean that they couldn't tell half the truth. And that was what Sirius was doing. He hadn't known who she was when she and Reg came to break him out, so he wasn't lying.

It was then that she knew that the Felix Felicis was working and she breathed an almost imperceptible sigh of relief.

Umbridge and Fudge looked incredulous, but there was no way they could refute his statement when he couldn't lie.

And he hadn't.

He had just told half the truth.

_Thank goodness for luck,_ Natasha thought absently to herself.

With that the serum seemed to wear off and the courtroom exploded into noise. Everyone started shouting at everyone else and Fudge dropped his face miserably into his hands. Umbridge looked like she was about to explode from pent up fury, Bones looked strangely pleased and Dumbledore had to hammer down with his gavel three times in order to get quiet.

"Order ladies and gentlemen, order if you please!" he called out in a thunderous voice and with a soft murmur, everyone returned to their seats.

Natasha and Regulus who hadn't moved from theirs were both sitting on the edge of them waiting for the verdict. While Reg was, Natasha was sitting just so.

"I believe we no longer need to wait for a verdict Supreme Mugwump," Amelia said and Natasha noticed she had a tiny smirk playing up the edges of her features.

"It would appear so Madam Bones," Dumbledore said gravely and much as she tried, Natasha couldn't tell whether he was happy or upset about the verdict.

"I hereby declare the accused Sirius Black…..acquitted of all charges laid against him." He banged the gavel down and the courtroom exploded into even more chaos than it had been in previously. Reporters were flashing their cameras all over the place and Natasha could see pens and quills writing away on paper a mile a minute.

Sirius waited until the guard unchained him from his chair and stood up, forcing his way through the crows towards Natasha and Regulus who were making their way to him.

He embraced his brother first and the two of them said nothing and then he turned to Natasha and hugged her no less warmly.

"Thank you," he whispered. He refrained from saying her name which she was glad of because with all of the reporters crowding around them, it would be difficult to keep something like that quiet and even after they had won, the last thing they needed to do was blow their cover.

She nodded and hugged him back but didn't say anything. The reporters were all jostling for a statement but Regulus had told the both of them not to say anything and even if he hadn't, she wouldn't have opened her mouth anyway. It was too risky with all these reporters around. Someone might pick up on something and then the whole cover would be blown.

So to continue the guise of the cover, Regulus took her hand and then clamped the other down on Sirius's shoulder and the three of them strode out of the courtroom leaving behind a bunch of reporters, two very disgruntled Ministry employees, and amused Amelia Bones, and a contemplative Dumbledore who watched the trio leave, his mind whirling with speculation.

Ω

That evening they had a feast courtesy of Petunia in order to celebrate Sirius's exoneration in the eyes of the law and the fact that he could walk around in daylight as a free man.

Looking at Petunia and Regulus in the candlelight, looking at each other with a warm glow in their eyes and Sirius holding a giggling Harry, with Hermione sitting on her own lap, Natasha felt a lump begin to grow in her throat and she had to swallow a few times to make it go away.

"To friends," Regulus said raising his wine glass. "Because together we can get things done, even crazy things like breaking my older brother out of prison."

There was a general chuckling as everyone toasted and took a sip of their wine. There was a moment of silence following and then Natasha was a little surprised when Sirius decided to speak up.

"You know, I never thanked the two of you for what you did," he said. "There was a time when I thought I would be stuck in that place forever. It was cold, dark damp and the Dementors were everywhere. I can't count the number of times I nearly had my soul sucked out. And then my little brother came back from the dead," he said grinning at Regulus who smiled back.

"And with the help of some new friends," he said turning the grin on Natasha and Petunia who returned it. "I'm a free man and back on my feet. So thank you," he said turning serious again. "Thank you for everything."

Petunia gave him a big grin and Natasha nodded cordially.

Looking at the other man across the table her expression softened somewhat for a moment.

_I'm going to give you the benefit of the doubt Sirius Black, _she thought to herself. _I don't do that very often and I'm not a trusting person. Petunia is a close friend of mine and Harry is her son. You do anything to hurt her or Harry I will break you, never mind that you're Reg's brother. You turn into a prejudiced bastard like you were in school and you will never see Harry again. I have more connections in this world than you have taste buds or hairs on your head and if I want to disappear with something….than I am going to disappear. _

She had been so busy thinking her mental threatening speech that she didn't realize that things had quieted down at the dinner table.

Regulus cleared his throat. "Well, I don't think a better time is going to come around to do this," he said.

Sirius frowned. "What are you talking about?"

Natasha however was narrowed in on the younger Black's face. He was beginning to look a little nervous for some reason and her mind quickly ran through the myriad of details as to why that would be.

It was then that she saw he was gripping something with his left hand under the table and his fist was forming a square like shape which could only mean one of a few things.

Her mind quickly ran through the possibilities before she lit on one that stood out from the rest and she had to bite down hard on her lip to keep a smirk from coming out. So that no one would see, she preoccupied herself by playing with Hermione's curls so that her smile wouldn't be seen.

"Reg what's going on?" Petunia asked.

Dudley slid down from his mother's lap and hurried over to Hermione and Natasha.

"Auntie Emma?" he stage whispered. "What's wrong with Mummy? She looks all red."

Natasha grinned at the little blonde, took his hand and pulled him close to her side. "If you watch carefully kid, I'll explain it later."

At that moment, Regulus decided to get off his chair and down on one knee. He opened his hand to reveal a small velvet box and when it popped open it revealed a platinum ring with large diamond in the center surrounded by a small ring of sapphires.

Petunia looked ready to fall out of her chair. "Reg…Reg what are you – "

"Just…..let me say this Tuney," the younger Black said. "Not many single women would take an unknown man into their house when they found in him near death on their doorstep."

_Yeah, because this isn't an episode of days of our lives, _Natasha thought to herself absently.

"But you did. You saved me, you and Emma," he said acknowledging her and she gave him a slight smile.

"You woke me up from my coma and sort of reintroduced me to life. I'm a different person now, I see things in a different way. Harry and Dudley are a part of that. And now I want to be a permanent part."

Petunia looked like she was about to pass out and tears were forming in her big blue cornflower eyes.

"R-Reg are you sure about this?" she whispered in a hushed tone. "I mean, we've only known each other for a few months and…..are you sure you want to be a…..a father to….two little boys?"

Harry looked up when Regulus lifted his chin with his forefinger. He gave him a bright smile and the older man returned it in one that was full of warmth.

"I do now," he said quietly.

_"__Come play in the snow with us Uncle Reg!" Harry called out and Dudley beamed and began to jump up and down at the thought._

_ "__I'll be there in a minute guys," Regulus called back. He looked down at the ring box in his hand and took a deep breath. It was just him and the boys today. Emma was out with Hermione, Petunia had gone to work and Siri couldn't leave Grimmauld place because it was too likely that someone would spot him. _

_It was the perfect time to ask the boys if they would be okay with this. They were both wizards so they would understand having a wizard for a father, but looking out the window at the two little tykes in their too big snow suits romping with a large dog on a snowy lawn filled him with a sense of…..completeness. Like this was what he needed, what he had been missing out on all his life._

_He knew his mother would be rolling in her grave if she found out that he was marrying a Muggle and wanted to adopt her two sons. But he didn't care anymore. He had spent his whole life trying to please his parents and it had almost gotten him killed. He had been in a coma for longer than he would care to remember and had landed on a woman's doorstep who had quite literally nursed him back to health. She was sweet and kind and although she didn't have magic, it didn't matter because magic didn't make up the best parts of you. _

_One's heart did._

_He turned around quickly and hurried out the door. "Boys can you come here for a minute?" he called._

_Both little boys turned in their snow suits and trundled over to him cheeks and noses red with the cold._

_ "__Are you gonna come play Uncle Reg?" Harry asked expectantly._

_The older man got down on his knees in the snow. "I will, but there's something I want to ask you first."_

_ "__What is it?"  
Regulus opened his palm and showed them the ring and both of their faces lit up in wonder at the sight._

_ "__Its so pretty," Harry whispered._

_ "__It is," Regulus said solemnly. "I'm showing it to you because I want to know if you like having me around."_

_ "__You play with us all the time," Dudley said slowly. "And we're sad when you have to go home. Mummy looks sad when you leave too."_

_ "__And we don't want her to be sad," Harry continued. His big emerald green eyes were staring at Regulus curiously. _

_ "__I don't want her to be sad either," Regulus said. He got a little bit closer to the two little boys and held the ring up to their eyes. "So how would you guys feel about me marrying your mother?"_

_Both Harry and Dudley exchanged glances. "You mean, like you'd be our daddy?" Dudley asked wide eyed._

_Regulus let out a choked laugh. "Only if you'd want me to be." _

_Both little boys exchanged glances with each other again before big grins came over their faces. _

_ "__We have a daddy Harry," Dudley said excitedly._

_ "__I know Duddy, Uncle Reg is gonna be our daddy!"_

_Regulus's nerve broke in that second and he grabbed both little boys and pulled them close to him, burying his face in their soft hair. He could hardly believe it, he was going to be married and be a father at the same time!_

_And he couldn't wait._

Natasha watched with a soft smile on her face as Petunia said yes and Regulus slid the ring on her finger before kissing her softly. She and Sirius broke into applause at the conclusion.

It was only when she took Hermione home that night and put her to bed that her own loneliness crashed over her like a wave and she had to sit down in the nursery because she suddenly felt unbalanced.

Looking out at the bright stars shining down on the crisp white know, the red head couldn't help but feel a little envious of her friend. She had two beautiful boys and was about to get married for the second time to the man of her dreams. And she definitely deserved it, living the first part of her life with an abusive husband, terrified for herself and her boys and trying to do everything to keep them safe.

But her heart didn't see it that way. All she saw was that someone else had something that she didn't. Yes, it was incredibly selfish, but she couldn't help herself. And looking over at the sleeping strawberry blonde she couldn't help but feel as if something was missing. There was more than just her in her little girl and she would be damned if Hermione grew up not knowing who her father was like she had.

_Damn it Thor, where are you? I swear if you don't come back soon to see your little girl, I will personally find a way to get to Asgard myself so I can make sure that Hermione is the last child to ever share your genes!_

Ω

Petunia told Natasha she didn't want an elaborate ceremony. She had done it the first time with Vernon and look how that marriage had turned out. This time she only wanted a simple ceremony by the seaside with her close friends and children around her.

So when she had asked Natasha to be her maid of honor, needless to say the red head had been shocked. When she asked why, the blonde had simply smiled and said she couldn't think of anyone better to do the job.

That and the fact that her sister was dead too.

Sirius was going to Regulus's best man and Hermione would be the flower girl, Harry and Dudley the two ring bearers. One would carry Reg's ring and one would carry Petunia's.

Regulus had told Petunia that his family had owned a small beach front place that they had rarely gone to when he had lived with them, but it was on the coast of England right by the sea. They owned the stretch of beach it was on and so there would be complete privacy. Petunia still had her wedding dress from last time, but instead of going to get a new one, she asked Natasha if she could alter it with magic.

Natasha who had been practicing a lot with her wand was only happy to agree.

A few days after she had wrapped up some business, the seven of them departed for the seaside.

It was early May by this time, and still a little cool, but Petunia had insisted on a spring wedding because spring symbolized growth and new life, something that was happening to her right now. She wanted a fresh start and Regulus was doing that for her.

It was a quaint little place when they arrived and when the seven of them finally apparated outside of the gates, it reminded Natasha of the house she and Thor had been staying in when they hid out in America four years ago.

She quickly shut that thought down.

Sure enough, when they walked in there was a comfortable looking living room with a fireplace and a wall of glass doors that opened up onto a deck which led down to the beach. There was a small kitchenette off to the left hand side and a staircase to the right which led up to the second floor where all the guest rooms were.

"Not bad Reg," Sirius said dropping his bag just inside the threshold. "Why couldn't we have hidden out here instead of Grimmauld?"

"Because unlike Grimmauld, this place is traceable under the Ministry," his younger brother replied. He was holding on to Petunia's hand and she was practically glowing with happiness. "And I didn't want to take any chances."

"Mummy, can me and Harry and Mione go play at the beach?" Dudley said bouncing around on his toes excitedly.

"Oh I don't know honey, it might be too cold in the water," Petunia said kneeling down in front of her son. "I don't want the three of you to get sick."

"Oh I wouldn't worry about that Tuney," Regulus said soothingly. "When we first bought this place, my father ensured that the water we owned was charmed warmer than the rest of the shoreline because my mother didn't want us getting sick as well. So the water here should be as warm as if we are in a bath."

"Well alright then," she said somewhat reluctantly. "But as soon as you get out of the water, I want all three of you to come in, take baths and put some dry clothes on. The water might not be cold but the air when it touches your skin will be."

The three four year olds let out whoops and raced up the stairs to change into their swim wear, followed by a barking Riley. Sirius settled himself by the fire and Natasha decided that the weather was so nice and sunny that she was going to take herself for a walk to get out of the way. It was obvious that Regulus and Petunia wanted to be alone and she was going to do that for them in her own way. Sirius was doing it too.

So she did, she put on a light sweater and hurried down the back porch steps of the house in her running shoes to go for a jog along the beach.

Natasha had always loved running. It was funny because that was exactly what she had been doing her whole life. She had fled from her parents home when they had died. She had run all the way across Russia and back She had run to America and back and finally, she had fled from Russia for good to Britain where she had had a little girl and now she was running again. Mind you it wasn't the permanent part of running, but it was something she hadn't stopped doing.

After about an hour, she found a log that had been washed ashore and dried in the sun and she decided it would be an ideal place to rest. As the red head sat down, she could see the clouds rolling, the grey vapours just lightly kissing the sun's dying golden rays. The sun was about to be covered.

The wind was picking up and the waves were taller than ever. Either a storm was coming or they were in for a very dark night.

Storms…..

Somehow it always seemed to lead back to him, a tall blonde with electric blue eyes and a voice like rushing waters who stood at least a head above her, whose presence was so exasperating but so soothing at the same time.

It was kind of like how a storm was too. A storm was frightening and frustrating and infuriating because it delayed your plans and demanded attention. But it could also be incredibly soothing if you were watching it from the right place and at the right time. And if you were close enough…close enough to be in the eye of the storm, it was almost like you were wrapped in its grey clouds lightening flashing all around you but never at you.

It was kind of the way he made her feel like.

And speaking of him…..

Natasha glanced down at the amber pendant hanging from her throat. She had never worn it since he had given it to her, but since he had been gone so long it, did make her feel a little better to have something he had given her with him.

Why was this so complicated?

Why did her daughter have to be a child of lightning?

And how was she going to explain to Hermione about her father when she did inevitably begin asking questions?

"Mummy!"

The red head looked up to see a familiar head of golden read curls bouncing toward her along the sand. There was a big smile on her face and her aquamarine eyes were glittering with excitement.

"Mione?" Natasha said, reaching out a hand for her daughter. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be with Harry and Dudley? You didn't come out here by yourself did you? We're a long way from the house."

The little strawberry blonde looked a little sheepish. "Sorry Mummy. I wanted to come find you, and Harry and Dudley went inside to play a game with Uncle Reg. I didn't think anyone would notice if I left."

"What have I told you about running off by yourself young lady?" Natasha asked raising an eyebrow.

"To not to," Hermione said quietly looking down at her feet. But then she looked up, her gaze taking on a stubborn shade. "But I'm not alone Mummy. I knew I would find you and then I wouldn't be alone. "

Natasha stared her daughter down, not having any trouble doing it. "I understand that Mione, but it's still not safe. You're a little girl in a big world where people will try to hurt you and Harry and Dudley. You need to stay where you're safe. Do you understand me?"

"Yes Mummy."

"Good, now let's get back to the house before your Aunt Petunia notices we've gone missing."

But they had no sooner gotten up when a dark shape materialized down the beach in the direction they wanted to go. Actually it was several dark shapes. They moved in a cluster and seemed to be headed right for them.

Natasha held Hermione's hand tighter and narrowed her eyes in their direction, her pulse rate accelerating when she realized what it was.

About a dozen men dressed entirely in black were making their way along sand towards them. Their gaze seemed to have narrowed in on the two of them, and when they saw them, their paces quickened. All of them seemed to have dark tattoos on their necks and when she saw what the markings were, it was only a matter to make the red head more concerned. It was a marking of a spider's web.

Normally, this would have made Natasha scoff in condemnation but now, judging by whom she was with, she began to feel her own breathing hitch.

These men meant business.

They were in serious trouble.

Looking around wildly, Natasha spied a series of tall sand dunes just to their right and she glanced down at her daughter who had seen the men and was looking a little fearful.

"Mione, do you remember what we were just talking about, how the world is a dangerous place?"

The little girl nodded.

"Well you're about to get your first lesson in that right now," she said. "You see those sand dunes to our right?"

"Yes Mummy," the little red head said looking confused.

"Well we're going to play a game. Your favorite game in the winter was hiding in the snow and waiting for Riley to come dig you out right?"

"Yes."

"Well we're going to play that game again right now," Natasha said calmly. She wasn't going to panic. Her daughter was going to get out of this. "Well I want you to go and hide yourself in the sand. And I don't want you to come out until Riley comes to find you. And he will find you."

"What about you Mummy?" Hermione asked feeling fearful. "What are you going to do?"

Natasha gave her the best smile she could. "Don't worry," she said softly. "Mummy will be just fine."

Hermione looked at her for a half second as if weighing the risk, and then hurried across the sand dunes and disappeared behind them. Instantly her mother breathed a sigh of relief and turned away from the dunes. There was nowhere for her to run, they were a long way from the house and she would tire herself out if she tried running. The best chance she had was to make a stand.

She stood with her back to the dunes, staring out the ocean analyzing the best way to take these guys out.

As soon as she saw the spider web tattoos she had known who and what these men were. They were called the Weavers. And they were a part of the group that Anton Konrad had belonged to. She had often wondered if there would be retribution for her killing Konrad four years ago. But now she knew.

The only question there was, was how they had found her in her in the first place.

_There must have been some kind of holding facility for them in this area,_ she thought. _It's the only way they could have moved this fast in finding me. I just have to keep their attention off of the sand dunes and everything will be fine. _

"Gentlemen," she said when they had neared her, not even taking her eyes off the waves. "I didn't expect to see you here so soon."

"It's been four years Romanov," the one in the lead said. "We like to be fashionably late."

He had a curious accent that almost sounded British but in other ways like it was Welsh too. Perhaps he was a mix of both.

"I can attest to that," she agreed. "Although now that you're here, are we going to be late starting as well?"

"Don't worry Romanov, we'll get to it," he said. "But first, there's one thing you should know. We don't have order to kill you."

That surprised her, but she worked hard not to let it show.

"You didn't?" she asked, pretending to be surprised. "Well that's mildly interesting as you see, not all of us are going to leave this shore alive and if you didn't come to kill me, than it will be me."

"Ah, but you go on too fast Widow," he said. "You didn't even ask why it was that we were ordered not to kill you."

"Does it matter?"

"Of course, there is a purpose to everything a Weaver does. We connect the world to chaos and connect guns to the hands of people. We are the cable lines between the universe and complete anarchy."

Normally, Natasha would have made some sarcastic quip about supervillain speeches but half of her attention was diverted by the fact that her daughter was hiding somewhere behind a sand dune about fifty yards away and if she didn't get herself and these men away from this place soon, it didn't matter what they said, someone one going to die. And she would go first before she would see these men have their hands on her daughter.

So she planted her feet firmly in the sand and raised one eyebrow coolly as if she hadn't a care in the world. "Really and in between all of this run around, song and dance, what has this got to do with me?"

"You disappeared from the Red Room four and a half years ago, and no one's been able to find you since then. You went completely off the charts and disappeared from Russia completely. One of our spies infiltrated the Red Room a long time ago and discovered that they are declaring you dead because they cannot find you and are wasting time and resources in looking. It was then that we knew you were gone for good."

"All very intriguing but the point of all of this is?" Natasha asked donning her this man is a complete waste of my time persona.

"The Red Room is dying Romanov, so is the KGB. All government organizations break down at some point. Ever wonder what happened after you left? Other groupies started thinking that if you could get out with no consequences than so could they. After that or spies told us that the migration had started."

"Again," Natasha said through her teeth. "What does this have to do with me?"

"This whole thing has to do with you," he continued. "It's been an ambition of the Weavers to find one of you, find out whatever it is that's in your blood and replicate it. The Genesis serum is the most cutting edge technology out there and we want in on it."

"So you're out for my blood…..what are you vampires?" Natasha quipped. "It's not as if you can just put me out and analyze what it is that makes me faster smarter, stronger and better than you. There isn't some code wrapped up in my DNA that makes me what I am."

"You would think that Romanov, but we intend to find that out for ourselves. Plus there's a little…..insentive we have to make you cooperate."

"Oh, and what's that?"

"Our spy noticed that there was only one person you talked to before you left and that was a scientist by the name of Horatio Mendes. After we tracked him down at a different lab we only needed to apply the right…pressure to get him to talk and tell us why you'd left. You were pregnant Romanov."

It took every ounce of Natasha's self-control to not react to the allegations they were presenting.

"Don't try and deny it," he said when she started to open her mouth to contradict him. "Mendes told us everything. Of course we had to threaten his family a bit first, but he eventually broke."

"You miserable bastards," Natasha growled. Horatio was one of the sweetest most helpful people she had ever met, he had told her about Hermione, helped keep her calm when she was about to have a panic attack and had most likely been the one who told Thor about the pregnancy and how to find them. They had not right to try and hurt someone like that.

"Bastards….we've been called worse than that haven't we boys?" he said chuckling back at the other group and there was a smattering of chortling there as well before he turned back to the now livid brunette.

"Now listen love, we didn't come to fight, but we know how to and we will subdue you, it's a done deal. We're willing to overlook Konrad, but you might as well use logic here. We out number you darling."

Natasha knew the odds, they didn't have to tell her. But she also had to protect Hermione now that they knew her secret. She hoped her little girl had stayed hidden or at the very least had hightailed it back to the beach house. She squared herself up.

"Well then gentlemen, I believe we have reached the climax of this little visit. Because you see you have orders not to kill me, but I don't have the same instruction. Shall we?"

And with that everything started.

Natasha's fighting was still cool methodical and potent the way it had always been, but she was fighting for someone else now too which meant there was a whole lot of power in her swings and takedowns. She was no idiot and knew that most of the guys would have guns on them, but if she kept them occupied long enough, that might give Hermione enough time to get away.

And that was all that counted.

Her hopes were dashed however when a high pitched scream from nearby caused everyone to halt their activity.

Somehow, one of the men had made his way over to check the sand dunes and had dragged back a screaming Hermione.

"No! Let go of me! Let go!" She wasn't crying and in that moment, Natasha felt a misplaced sense of pride. This was her daughter and even at four years of age, she would go down swinging.

Of course that all went away when the man who had a hold of her hair cuffed her around the face. "Quiet brat!"

And then Natasha saw red.

What she did after that she didn't remember and wouldn't remember and Hermione wouldn't remember it either. She didn't know the amount of men she took down until she heard the click of a gun and a frightened whimper.

And then everything stopped.

When she looked up, the man who had been holding her little girl by the roots of her hair had cocked a gun to her temple and now the little girl looked scared.

"Mummy….Mummy what's….happening?" she gulped out and the sound tore at Natasha's heart like nothing else had. She started toward the man, but by that time, their leader who had recovered enough from one of Nat's blows stepped in front of her.

"Hold it right there love, you don't want me to tell him to put a bullet through her brain, and you better do as I say. Drop the gloves and come quietly."

Natasha looked in her daughter's big blue eyes that were pleading to understand what was going on and she made a decision.

"Alright," she said quietly, and instantly there were a pair of cuffs around her hands. "But if I do, you let her go. She has nothing to do with this."

All of a sudden there was a bag over her head and the dying light of the sun was gone.

"Sorry love, I can't do that either. You see, she's insurance, the only way we're going to get you to cooperate is if we bring her along. But don't worry, as long as you behave…..she'll be fine."

Then a sharp pain connected with the red head's temple and the last thing she heard was the crashing of the waves and the sounds of Hermione's screams.

The sun was about to be covered.

Ω

**Alrighty then, so major cliff hanger here. Who are the men? Where are they taking Nat and Mione? Whose going to save them? All will be revealed I promise. I also want to assert that the Weavers were a sect of Anton Konrad's old group. They wanted revenge on Nat for killing Konrad but were instructed to bring her in instead for some experimentation so they could hopefully they could figure out how to replicate the genesis serum. Their object was not to kidnap Hermione, they just took her along for some insurance to make Nat cooperate. I will try to update soon, now that exams are over I have a lot more free time. Review!**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17

Hermione was scared.

Given the fact that she was a little girl of four years of age, that wasn't entirely unexpected as she and her mother had just been abducted from the beach by a large group of unknown men.

A black bag had been thrown over her head and her hands were tied behind her back. She couldn't see her mother anymore, although she was pretty sure she was still there.

"Keep moving," someone behind her barked and she was prodded over the sand to go faster. There were many times when the little girl nearly fell climbing over sand dunes that she could barely see between the fabrics of the cloth bag.

She was crying, because she didn't know what was going on. Mummy had been screaming something and then hitting the men and then some of them had been on the ground before someone grabbed her and pressed something cold to her head.

The little demi god might not have been able to understand everything that was happening, but she knew that something very bad had happened. She knew that these men were here for her Mummy but she didn't know why.

"Mummy?" she whimpered and felt something hard prod her in the back.

"Quit your whining," a voice growled. "And walk faster. "We need to be away before someone notices we're here."

What did that mean? Before who noticed they were there?

Natasha's mind meanwhile was whirling with a thousand possibilities. She had had no idea that Konrad's group had had a base of operations on the English coast or she would have told Ivan and he would have sent her with an extraction team to take them down.

Too little too late, it seemed.

_No,_she growled in her mind. _It was not too late. I will get you out of this Mione. Even if I don't make it, you will live._

She wasn't a traditional mother, but she knew all too much about sacrifice and her daughter would not be the casualty because her past had caught up to her.

There wasn't much the red head could do at the moment, because she could see through the fabric of the bag that had been placed over her head that a gun was still being prodded into Hermione's back.

Her own hands were still cuffed behind her and she began to contemplate what she could do with them. Everything was weapon if used correctly, Ivan had always told her.

She would have to wait for the time that the men were somewhat separated and then she could lunge forward, throw the cuffs over the guy who had a gun to Hermione's back.

Natasha might have had a few more qualms about killing since she had become a partial domestic.

But not anymore.

_You threaten or hurt my daughter you moron and I'll make sure you never see daylight again,_ she thought to herself in Russian.

The little girl was being amazingly calm. Natasha could hear her whimpering soft, a sound that was tearing at her heart, but it was better for her to make noise than to not be able to make any at all.

As she peered through the fabric that was blinding her partially, the red head just managed to make out that they were coming to the end of the beach and a road hidden in the nearby trees. There was a van tucked between a tree and a rock so it was out of sight of the public eye. There were unmarked plates and it was painted a dark grey so as to be as inconspicuous as possible. One of the rear view mirrors was slightly crooked and the bumper was beat up as if it had been kicked one too many times.

Not a very comforting thought as they had probably used them to kidnap other agents like her.

The agent inside of Romanov was itching to do something, but that gun was still far too close to Hermione's back for her liking.

If they wanted to escape, they would have to behave…..for now.

"Where are you taking us?" she demanded.

"Don't worry your pretty little head about that love," the man in charge said. "You just sit back, relax and enjoy the ride."

With that, the bay doors of the van were thrown open and she was pushed inside, something caught her sleeve and she felt the fabric of her jacket tear. One of the Weavers shoved at her again and she fell into the back of the van, landing hard on her arm. She bit her lips to keep the small grunt she had emitted in, and righted herself as the rest of the men climbed into the back with her.

Hermione was picked up like a sack of potatoes and sat down hard in one of the Weaver's laps, gun still against her temple.

She wasn't fighting as hard as she had been before but that was probably because the fright had taken over and she knew her Mummy was there with her because she had heard her voice.

They were sitting knee to knee and it was killing Natasha that she couldn't reach out and take her little girl in her arms. But if she tried, Hermione would pay for it, and she didn't think she would be able to control herself if she saw someone abusing her little girl.

So instead, she did something she hadn't done since Hermione was a baby and she had brought her home from the hospital.

Hermione only knew a few phrases in Russian, and so Natasha had taken it upon herself to sing to her little girl a lullaby that her own mother had sung to her when she was small. It had always helped Hermione to go to sleep when she was fussy or tired and had never failed to work.

So…very quietly….in the back of the dark van, Natasha began to hum the lullaby and she could see Hermione still a bit on the man's lap.

"Happy Romanov?" the driver called from the front. "I knew you killed for a living, but I didn't expect you to be a complete sadist."

She ignored that and kept going, humming very very softly.

Hermione had stopped trembling at this point and she could tell that her little girl was listening.

They suddenly went over a large bump in the road and Natasha banged her head against the ceiling of the van, and grimaced slightly.

Hermione went back to trembling again.

_Don't you worry baby girl, I am going to get you out of this…or I am going to die trying._

Ω

"Dudley?" Petunia asked frowning as she looked about the playroom in the small beachfront cottage that the Black's owned. "Do you know where Hermione and Aunt Emma are?"

Dudley looked up a bit guiltily from his toys that he was playing with alongside Harry. "She went back into the house before we did. I think she got dressed and came down to play. But I didn't see her."

The blonde frowned thoughtfully. She knew Emma had gone for a walk…..maybe Hermione had decided to try and find her.

But she was four years old, a four year old shouldn't be out on the beach alone! She would have a coronary if Harry or Dudley pulled a stunt like that.

"Is something wrong?" Regulus asked coming out of the kitchen. He had the newspaper in his hand and was wearing Muggle clothes and a sweater to keep the chill out.

"I'm not sure," Petunia said thoughtfully. "I asked the boys if they knew where Hermione was, but they said they didn't know. I know Emma went for a run on the beach, maybe she went to try and find her."

"A four year old on the beach alone?" Regulus asked, frown deepening. "I don't like the sound of that, why don't we see if we can go and find her?"

"Good idea, I'll get our coats," Petunia volunteered and hurried to the closet. She hadn't seen the little head of strawberry blonde curls in about a half an hour and had just thought she was playing with Dudley and Harry. But something in her gut was saying something wasn't quite right.

She hurried back into the living room and handed Regulus his coat.

"We want to go too!" Harry demanded.

"Yeah, what if Mione's in trouble?" Dudley asked and apprehension roiled in Petunia's stomach like sour milk. That was something she didn't even want to think about until it was necessary.

Riley, who they had brought with them as they couldn't leave him at home for the few days they would be gone, came over and nudged Petunia's hand, sensing that something was wrong. She petted the dog absent mindedly.

"I don't think anything's wrong," Regulus said soothingly when he saw the look on her face. "She's probably with Emma. You know how inseparable those two are, they're probably taking a walk on the beach. If you want to come with us, get your coats boys, we don't want you catching a chill, and it looks like its going to rain soon."

They ran in the direction of the front door to get their things and Petunia turned to Regulus. "You don't think anything's wrong do you?"

Her fiancee reached for her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing it gently. "I know Emma well enough to know if she were to encounter trouble, she would dispatch it with a smooth takedown. I highly doubt anything's wrong."

"What's going on?"

The couple looked up to see Sirius coming down the stairs with a book in his hand. Regulus turned to him.

"You haven't happened to see Emma or Hermione around here lately have you?"

The other Black shook his head. "No, I saw her go play in the water with Harry and Dudley and then all three of them came back in. Didn't Emma go for a run?"

"Yes, and then Hermione disappeared," Petunia continued. "We think she might have gone to find her mum, but she's only four years old, she shouldn't be out on the beach all alone."

Sirius frowned. "Hang on, I'll get my coat and come help you find her."

A few minutes later, the boys were back, attired in their coats and rain boots as it looked like a storm was about to roll in and it wouldn't do to get drenched twice.

The five of them trooped out the back door and down onto the beach, Riley leading the way, nose to the ground. Harry and Dudley were eager to play detective and wasted no time in spying a trail of small footprints that could have only belonged to Hermione.

"She went this way Aunt Tuney," Harry said pointing to tracks and Regulus ruffled his hair affectionately.

"Good spying Harry, come on lets see if we can find her."

The farther along they went, the sick feeling in Petunia's stomach continued to grow. She loved the little girl as if she were her own neice and if anything happened to her, she would feel personally responsible.

"Relax," Regulus said taking her hand. "Everything will be fine."

_I'll relax when we've found her, _Petunia thought grimly to herself.

Regulus's earlier predictions about a storm coming seemed to be spot on as the clouds were gathering into a grey mass overhead and the wind was picking up, blowing their hair in their faces.

"She couldn't have gotten far," Sirius put in. "It's only been something like twenty five minutes. How much distance could she have covered in that time?"

Petunia didn't want to answer that question as she really didn't know. Hermione was an ambitious little girl just like her mother and if Petunia knew Emma well enough that she would possess the steely nerve and iron clad will of someone who would break a man out of prison and get away with it…..well, she didn't want to know how far Hermione would go.

The tracks were still there in the sand, but it wasn't until they were about twenty five minutes out from the house that Harry and Dudley noticed something.

"Mummy, Mione's feet stop by that log right there," Dudley pointed out and Petunia could see that her son was right. The shoe prints of Hermione's little sneakers stopped right by a log that appeared to have washed ashore some time ago.

Regulus bent low to the ground and then straightened up. "There's another set of footprints here too. A larger set."

He saw his fiancee's face turn absolutely white and quickly moved to calm her down. "Those are most likely Emma's shoeprints, Tuney. Hermione wouldn't have gone to just anyone. She's a smart kid, she wouldn't do that."

Petunia took a deep breath and saw the logic in what he was saying. "You're right, they're probably Emma's foot prints."

Just then Sirius caught sight of something. "Here's Hermione's foot prints again, but they lead away from the log." He pointed up behind one of the sand dunes. "But there's no other foot prints of hers."

Petunia wasted no time in hurrying to the top of the sand dune and her face went from pale to grey when she saw a pile of overturned earth and a bunch of large shoe prints around it. Regulus hurried after her and upon seeing the scene, his eyes narrowed. Sirius came over, holding Riley's lead and the dog immediately began to sniff about the pile of over turned sand in earnest.

After about thirty seconds, he bolted back to the beach barking madly. The tide was coming in about this time and any minute now they wouldn't be able to see the foot prints.

Petunia took out the cellular device Emma had given her when she had still been with Vernon and used it to take a picture of the foot prints before they disappeared completely.

All of sudden, Riley went mad again, barking and whining around a spot on the sand.

"What is it boy?" Regulus asked kneeling down next to him. Sirius crouched down on his other side and when both Black brothers saw what had made him go berserk at the same time, their faces went grim.

It was a single drop of blood, very small, but dark against the quickly browning sand and the grey light. Not very conspicious but that sort of thing was like an alarm sign to a dog's nose.

The two men exchanged glances, their faces going pale.

"You don't think –" Sirius began.

"I don't think anything yet," Regulus said quickly cutting him off. "That could have been there before anyone came up here."

"What are you talking about – " Petunia cut off when she saw what they were looking back and she pressed her hands to her mouth to keep a strangled gasp in. Both Harry and Dudley looked up at her, confused because they didn't know what was happening.

"What's wrong Aunt Tuney?" Harry asked, but she didn't answer.

"Is that…..oh my god," Petunia said shakily as she sunk down on the beached log. She didn't want to use the word blood around the boys because as young as they were, they still knew what it meant and then she would have to calm them down when the important thing right now was to find Hermione and Emma.

"It looks like it," Sirius said grimly. "Now the only thing we can do is try and figure whether its Hermione's, Emma's, or someone else's."

"Right then," Regulus said pulling his wand from his pocket in an instant. "Hold on, we can figure that out right now."

He waved his wand over the spot and muttered a spell that Petunia had never heard before. Sirius appeared unfamiliar with it too, because when he heard the words, he frowned.

"Since when do you know blood magic?" he asked his younger brother.

The Blacks had been one of the more ruthless families in ancient times and had been obsessed with blood purity and blood magic to keep their lines clean from all Muggleborns and half-bloods.

Walburga had taught Regulus how to identify the blood of a close family member or friend and when necessary, to determine whether or not their blood was pure.

During that time, Regulus had also taught himself how to identify blood. It was the same spell Walburga had taught him, just tweaked slightly. Most of the Slytherins, including Severus had come up with their own spells. He had just created one on how to identify blood.

"Mum taught me it in sixth year," Regulus replied impatiently staring at the spot, waiting for the image of whose blood it belonged to appear. "You would have known it too if you hadn't moved in with the Potters and left."

The words weren't angrily spoken, but there was an underlying bite there that Petunia picked up on and in the back of her mind would make a mental note to ask him about later when everything calmed down.

As thick as he could be sometimes, Sirius seemed to pick up on the tone too and his eyes narrowed in speculation. He looked about to say something, but then there was a flash of yellow light that indicated that the magic had taken effect.

And then they all looked on in horror when the image of a little girl with strawberry blonde curls and green blue eyes appeared over the sand for a few seconds before disappearing in a shower of sea mist.

"Oh my god," Petunia whispered feeling sick and even Riley was silent.

"Son of a bitch," Sirius muttered.

Everyone was absolutely silent for a moment, minds whirling with what could have happened down on this section of beach. Here was definitive proof that things were rotten in Denmark…..and Hermione and Emma were nowhere to be found.

"Look, let's not panic right away," Regulus said, ever the voice of reason. "Maybe she just fell and cut herself. Those large footprints could just as well be Emma's."

And then all of a sudden, Riley went nuts again, and ran off down the beach, forcing Harry and Dudley to chase after him, yelling for him to come back. That snapped Petunia out of her shocked stupor and forced her to hurry after them. Something about finding that blood spot made her never want to let them out of her sight.

"Boys, come back here, we don't know what – " she cut off when she saw what had stolen Riley's attention.

It was a series of footprints. Hermione's smaller ones had disappeared and they were replaced by several sets of very large man like shoe prints. The tide was coming in and had almost washed them away, but they were still visible.

The blonde turned back to the two brothers who were still kneeling in the sand by the speck of blood and talking is quick harsh tones. "Reg, Sirius, come here. I think Riley's found something else!"

The Blacks exchanged glances and got to their feet and hurried after her. Harry and Dudley were kneeling by the sets of footprints.

"Mione's aren't here Uncle Reg," Dudley observed.

"I know that kiddo," Reg said coming up to the two boys who would soon be his step sons. "But that doesn't mean that she wasn't carried," he whispered as he knelt down and examined them with fresh eyes.

"They look like they lead off in this direction," Sirius said pointing further down the beach and the small family wasted no time in hurrying after them, following Riley who had his nose to the ground, following the footsteps.

All the while they were following after the large husky, Petunia felt as if there was a hot lump of lead in her stomach because the sick feeling she had was increasing. She was trying to sum up someone's motives for kidnapping Hermione and whether or not Emma had been taken too. It was becoming a very real possibility as time went on and with the amount of foot prints they had been finding along the beach in the area where the drop of blood was found, was leading her to believe that at the very least, Emma and Hermione hadn't been alone on the beach.

It wasn't until the sand of the beach began to fade away to a rocky shoreline studded with tree roots protruding from the ground that the serious looks on Sirius and Regulus's faces began to harden into reality.

Petunia felt her breath hitch and her breathing became loud in her ears when out of the trees, an unpaved bumpy road appeared.

_Can I panic now? _She wondered.

The footprints faded away but there were still sparse traces of sand on the rough ground leading up to the road which indicated that whoever was here, they had come this way, possibly with Emma and Hermione.

Riley, who had gone up by the road suddenly began to bark loudly, drawing their attention to him like a magnet.

"What is it boy?" Regulus asked hurrying up to the dog to see what had spooked him. When he bent down to the dog's eye, his face paled upon seeing a scrap of cloth attached to one of the brambles of the bushes.

"That's Aunt Emma's jacket," Harry pointed out. "She has a star on her sleeve that looks just like that and it's the same color."

He was right and when Petunia came forward, she noted the color with a sinking feeling in her stomach that could only mean that Emma and Hermione had been here…..and it wasn't of their own free will.

"What's this?" Sirius asked. He had bent down by one of smaller rocks on the side of the road and was examining a second drop of blood he had found.

Regulus pulled out his wand and repeated the spell from earlier. This time they all waited in silence, a much heavier silence until the picture of a familiar brunette with striking green eyes appeared in a mist like form in the spot above the blood.

Petunia took a shaky breath and leaned against one of the trees, feeling sick. Regulus looked pale and Sirius looked grim.

"Given the evidence," Petunia's fiancée said carefully. "I think we can now consider that something sinister has happened to Hermione and Emma."

_You think?!_ Petunia wanted to scream.

"But why would someone want to kidnap Emma and Hermione?" Sirius asked. "I know they're both witches, but there had to be some kind of specific motive here."

"Good point," Regulus said getting to his feet. He turned to his fiancée. "Tuney? You knew her better than the rest of us. Do you know why someone would want to kidnap Emma and Hermione?"

Petunia swallowed hard. "She didn't tell me much about her past."

"That's usually a sign when someone disappears that whatever caused the disappearance had something to do with a past they haven't said much about," Sirius muttered under his breath and Petunia was pretty sure he was right.

"Tuney, think carefully," Regulus said calmly coming up to her and taking her hands. "Was there anything Emma might have told you that would make someone come after her or force her to disappear?"

Petunia closed her eyes and dug deep back into her memories of the past four and a half years since Emma had move to Privet Drive. There had to have been something Emma had said or done alluding to her past that could have triggered this.

"She told me she had been in the army before she got pregnant with Hermione and was honorably discharged," she said slowly, desperately trying to remember something.

"You think someone she put away in the past could have come after her?" Sirius asked looking between them.

"The Muggle army isn't exactly a walk in the park Siri," Reg put in. "They do everything our Aurors do on a bigger scale except without magic."

"But she said she wasn't in the Muggle Army," Petunia burst out, finally remembering something. "She told me she was in the Special Forces, which means she and her team went in and handled the jobs the regular soldiers couldn't do. They were the ones who rescued hostages, freed diplomats and took out terrorists."

"Terrorists?"

"They're like the Muggle version of Death Eaters, Siri," Regulus said absentmindedly, keeping his eyes on Petunia. "Did she say anything else?"

_Think Petunia, think!_ Her brain screamed at her. There had to be something else she was missing.

And then all of a sudden, out of the dim memories with Vernon that she had tried to forget, there was one that came to the fore. When she and Emma had been discussing plans on how to get rid of Vernon quietly, Emma had said that once his memory had been wiped they would be able to hand him over to the Secret Service where her father worked so they could relocate him overseas.

"Petunia?" Reg asked, still looking at her carefully.

"This doesn't have much to do with her past," the blonde relayed carefully. "But it might be able to tell us who to call to help us find Hermione and Emma."

"Who?"

"Emma's adoptive father works for the British Secret Service. He was the one who helped me dispose of my ex-husband."

"Dispose of him?" Sirius asked in the background but Reg and Petunia ignored him.

"Do you have a number we can get in touch with him at, or at least his name?" Regulus asked. "Because everything that's happened here today is convincing me that foul play has occurred. And if we're right and Emma's past has caught up with her, then it's likely Hermione was caught in the crossfire."

"I think I need to sit down," Petunia said faintly, before sinking onto one of the nearby rocks. She was feeling a little dizzy. Harry and Dudley, sensing something was wrong with their mother came and sat down quietly next to her without being asked.

_This can't be happening, _she thought to herself. _I feel like I'm in a bad re-run of a James Bond movie. Did, From Russia with Love end with the main character getting kidnapped? What are we going to do? And what's going to happen when her husband finds out –? _

"Oh my god!" she jumped to her feet, startling both the little boys next to her.

"What's wrong Petunia?" Regulus asked.

"Are you okay Mummy?" Dudley asked.

"Emma's husband," Petunia stammered. "Oh my god…..Dan doesn't even know what's happening and I have no clue how to get in touch with him to let him know! What's he going to say when he finds out his wife and daughter have been kidnapped?!"

What indeed.

Petunia couldn't even picture the look on the handsome blonde's face. While she knew he was just a regular man, part of her wondered if he was magical too like Emma. He didn't have to be for Hermione to be magical as Emma was a Russian pureblood who had lived there for a while before immigrating to England to have Hermione, but there was something about his face the first time she saw him that made him wonder.

There was that _From Russia with Love _reference again.

She didn't know much about Dan Granger, other than the fact that he was far too handsome for his own good, and one of the most powerful looking individuals she had ever seen. That alone made her wonder if he had magic like Emma did. It wouldn't have surprised her if she were to find out that were true.

It also wouldn't surprise her if he would hunt to the ends of the earth to find Emma. There had been a curious tension about the two of them when she saw them together after Hermione was born. They made a stunning couple though, and despite what seemed to be an odd friction between them, they appeared very much in love. She shuddered to think of what he would do when he found out what had happened.

Regulus and Sirius had never seen Dan, but they were likely to be almost as intimidated as Vernon had been when he had seen him.

"Does he serve in the army too?" Regulus asked.

Petunia nodded. "But I don't know which division or even where he's serving right now. I've only seen him twice and that was four years ago! I have no idea where in the world he could be!"

"Alright, why don't we all just calm down?" Regulus said. "The best chance we have of finding Emma right now is getting in touch with her father. If he works in the British Secret Service like she told you, and that was the same equipment we used to bust Siri out of prison, than I think he would be able to help us better than the Muggle Police. They have far more resources. Petunia, do you know what his name is?"

The blonde thought for a moment.

"Ivan," she said finally. "Ivan Petrovitch Bezukhov. He was a former Soviet soldier who rescued her from her burning house when her parents were killed. He's the closest thing she has to a father. I've only met him one time when he came to dispose of Vernon. But I think he's our best lead when it comes to finding Emma and Hermione. This is his adopted daughter and grandchild, he's bound to do something."

"Good," Regulus said. "Then we need to make a call, because the trail's going colder every minute. Who knows were Emma and Hermione are right now? Let's get back to the house and see if we can phone him. It looks like a storm's coming."

The irony of that statement would be realized later.

Ω

Natasha lost track of how long she and Hermione had been in the van.

But when the dim light she could see out of the cloth bag faded, she knew it was night time.

Hermione, somehow had managed to fall asleep on her captors lap. Natasha had wanted to wake her, but knew that her little girl who had been so exhausted and frightened for the past few hours, would need every ounce of energy she had if they were going to get out of there alive.

She thought absently of Petunia and Reg and Siri and the boys. Had they noticed their disappearance by now and called the police?

She hoped so. Petunia was smart and she knew more about Natasha's past than the brothers did. She would be the one to put two and two together that something had gone wrong. If anything, the bruise that she would have on her arm for the next few hours was worth the scrap of jacket she had left behind on the trees.

The footprints in the sand had probably faded by this time as the tide had long since come in, but maybe they had found them in time before the water washed them away.

_Wishful thinking Romanov. Even if they did figure it out, they would have no idea who it was that kidnapped you. You left very few clues behind over the last few years. The only thing Reg and Siri know is that you were part of the Muggle army. Petunia knows a little more but it's going to be difficult to link all of those things together._

_She knows about Ivan though, _a small voice in head whispered and the brunette blinked in remembrance. That's right, she did know about Ivan and if she remembered correctly the Base of Operations of the British Secret Service was two hours from the coast where they had stolen the SHARC to go and get Siri out of prison. All of Ivan's information would still be back at the house.

Maybe Reg would apparate back and get it. She hadn't brought any other documents besides the information on Ivan with her. As far as the Soviet Union was concerned, she didn't exist. She was a highly trained sleeper agent for a reason.

Just then, the van jerked to a stop.

Hermione who had already been a light sleeper as it was was jolted awake when the brakes were applied.

"Mummy?" she muttered sleepily.

"I'm here," Natasha whispered softly in Russian. She was glad she had taught Hermione some Russian because they would come in handy in situations like this. Her little girl wasn't completely fluent, so she couldn't understand all the words her mother used. It was like she was learning English again for the first time. Her vocabulary wasn't very big, but she knew enough to get by.

Natasha was already working out a way she could incorporate that side into an escape plan.

"Ladies, we have arrived," the driver said and it annoyed Natasha that she couldn't make some sort of smart quip like she would have done if she were in this by herself.

The bay doors of the van were thrown open and Natasha was shoved out onto the sand. Her balance and reflexes were the only things that kept her from falling to the hard ground.

All of a sudden the bag was whipped off of her head and the fresh cold air that hit her was so intense it made the former red head feel as if a bucket of ice water had been thrown over her head.

Her eyes narrowed in on her surroundings a few minutes later. They were standing on a peninsula many miles out from the coast of Britain. She could see the mainland far in the distance but the van had been driving along a narrow stone highway fit only for one vehicle. The road had been bumpy and they must have been travelling for a while because it was now night and there were bright stars overhead. Natasha could see the bright lights of England far in the distance and knew it would be a long way to get home. The van had pulled up onto a concrete flat, almost like a parking lot and the van had pulled in by a rocky shoreline.

It was with some reluctance that she turned around to see where it was that she was standing.

It appeared that the peninsula which had taken so many hours to drive to was housing a large stone fortress that looked straight out of an old black and white picture about Alcatraz prison. There were turrets and look out towers adorning the top of the structure but no flags flying from the parapets. It wouldn't surprise Natasha to find out that there was a dungeon in this place where she and Hermione were to be locked up.

She whirled back around to see that Hermione who had been freed from the bag as well was still being fiercely yanked on by the arm out of the back of the van. She hit the ground and gave a harsh cry and Natasha moved to go to her, but was shoved back by one of the other men as the gun was raised to Hermione's head once more.

Natasha looked at the Weaver boss who had been charged with bringing them here and stared at him hard.

"When this is all said and done," she said softly, her tone dripping with promise. "I will kill you. It will be slow…..it will be painful….and I will keep you alive long enough to see where I am going before I crush your life under my fist like the miserable insect you are."

For a moment he looked uncertain, but then the smirk returned and he was about to answer when a new voice interrupted him.

"That is certainly a weighty oath for someone who is outnumbered by one who holds all the cards."

Everyone turned to see the large doors of the fortress had opened and there, with the light of a bright lamp shining behind him….was a man. He was tall and there wasn't anything very distinctive about him except for the fact that he was dressed in an expensive grey suit.

At the sight of him, all the Weavers stood to attention and even the man who had an iron grip on Hermione's arm released her to stand with his hands behind his back and his eyes forward. He must have been confident that she wouldn't be able to escape, because he didn't move a muscle when she ran to her mother.

Natasha bent down and pulled the little girl into her arms, almost limp with relief that she was alright.

"Hush now," she whispered in Russian. "I'm here now, everything will be alright."

Then she turned her gaze back to the man who had spoken who by this time was slowing walking forward to meet them. He had the sure stride of an aristocrat mixed with the prowl of a cat which said that he had all the time in the world to say what he needed to say and was confident that all of them would be at his mercy to dispense with as he chose.

In other words, he was arrogant in the extreme.

And if there was one thing that Natasha hated it was arrogant people who were so far up their own asses that they could give themselves a prostate exam.

His hair was neatly parted, his accent was British and there was a golden pocket watch hanging from his dress coat.

_Ah, we have a Sherlock Holmes enthusiast before us,_ Natasha thought to herself. Despite the danger she and Hermione were in, she would never be able to turn the sarcastic part of her brain off.

"Welcome to Whetherton, Agent Romanov," he said. "We've been waiting a lot time to meet someone of your calibre. Although I hope you didn't mean what you said."

"I don't make idle threats," Natasha hissed. "And if you had been listening carefully, you wold have known that what I said was a promise, not a threat. There is a difference. If I say I am going to kill you, than I am going to kill you. I'm direct that way. And since we haven't been formally introduced…..who the hell are you?"

She got to her feet and put her hands on Hermione's shoulders. The little girl was trembling with fear, but Natasha knew she had to stay focused if she was going to get the both of them out of there alive.

"I don't doubt that you possess the capabilities to carry out such an oath," the suited man said. "What you lack is the opportunity, something I assure you, will not come within a hundred miles of your grasp. To answer your other question, my name is Petrov Stalin."

At the rise of an eyebrow she gave him he smiled and nodded. "Yes I am distantly related to Joseph Stalin, an unfortunate genetic defect I'm afraid, but fate has a twisted sense of irony.

"As to why you were brought here, you must forgive my men, they can be somewhat rough around the edges, but good help is so very hard to find these day. After the Red Room Academy was a destroyed about four years ago, we were hard pressed to find agents like you."

That was something she wasn't expecting to hear. Natasha hadn't quite believed it when the lead Weaver had told her that the Red Room and KGB who they had worked closely with were slowly grounding out to a halt. But here was the definitive proof.

Somehow though, she didn't think they had been the ones to do the facility in. A part of her wondered whether or not Thor had been the one to choke the life from the agency. He had told her four years ago that he would take care of those threatening her and Hermione.

_A little godly assistance would be helpful right about now, _Natasha thought wryly to herself. _I know you haven't been around much lately, but I would be willing to overlook that if you would help get us out of this. _

Unfortunately the heavens remained silent.

"I'm a sleeper agent," she answered him quietly. "I'm trained not to be found."

"Evidently four years of domestic living with a child have made you a bit…..careless," Stalin said walking closer.

He nodded at one of his men who made toward them, but Natasha shoved Hermione behind her faster than she thought possible and assumed a defensive stance between the men and the little girl.

"You go anywhere near my daughter and I will make sure you are talking out of your ass for the rest of your life," she hissed at Stalin. "Although given the fact that you're already doing it now, you should find it easy to adjust."

He smiled, completely unfazed by her words. "You go on too fast. I don't mean to harm her. She's only here to ensure you cooperate. You do exactly as we say and she'll be fine…for now."

One of his men then leveled the gun at Hermione before Natasha could place herself more fully in front of the strawberry blonde from that direction and the red head cursed.

"Come now little one," Stalin said beckoning with his hand out stretched to the little four year old that was hiding behind her mother's legs. "Don't be shy, we're all friends here."

Natasha let out an inhuman growl and placed her hand protectively on her baby girl so she couldn't come forward.

"Mummy?" the little girl said looking up at her uncertainly with her big blue green eyes.

"Stay back Mione," Natasha muttered back,

"Well it seems we're going to have to get to know this little darling when her mother is….in a better mood," Stalin said with that same eerie smile on his face. "But back to the question of why you are here Agent Romanov. Why don't we got inside where we can be more comfortable?"

The words were said calmly, but Natasha wasn't fooled. There was no invitation in them, and this was further reinforced when one of the Weaver's seized her by the arm and shoved her forward. Thankfully he didn't touch Hermione or he would have been experiencing life without that arm.

The Weavers closed in around them closely, almost in a V formation so there was no place to go but forward. Natasha eyed the situation, but kept Hermione in front of her and as far away from them as possible.

The doors opened as they got near to the fortress like building and Natasha could see that its foreboding looks were a stark contrast to what was happening on the inside.

The floors appeared to be completely carpeted with Persian rugs and there was a roaring fireplace directly ahead of them with two plush tall chairs near it. There wasn't anything so ridiculous as a tall painting hanging over said fireplace with a portrait of a man in a military uniform or something as absurd as all that.

It was just…coldly classy, to use such an expression.

If there had been anything else, Natasha would have been convinced that this was the lair of a stereotypical super villain who was so arrogant and narcissistic that he should have considered going to a proctologist to see if he could have his head removed from his ass.

But everything was very…clean.

Sterile environments were always much more dangerous than dirty ones in Natasha's experience because it meant that whoever lived and worked there was efficient and calculated at what they did and was rarely ever caught.

Things were going to be more difficult than she expected.

The fortress had many levels, but they were all open with a railing and landing going along the whole interior of the room with the fireplace. There were many rooms in and on the landing, but they all opened back up into the room with the fireplace.

So essentially, there were no hidden passageway, no tunnels and no extra window to jump in or out of.

One way in….one way out.

Fabulous.

"Don't stand there so stiffly," Stalin said and gestured to one of the other chairs. "Take a seat. It's likely to be more comfortable then where you're going to be soon."

Natasha bit back a sarcastic quip about that. Hermione hadn't said anything and was holding on to her hand in a vice like grip.

Keeping a good distance between herself and Stalin's goons, Natasha eased herself and her daughter into the chair, while their…..honored host sat down in the other one. She was aware of the sound of guns being cocked and knew that if they were to make one wrong move, they would be spitting gum out through their foreheads.

He rolled what appeared to be an expensive cigar back and forth between his fingers and peered into the fire for a long moment before turning back to look at Hermione.

"She's quite beautiful for one so young," he said thoughtfully. "Just like her mother. Unusual coloring though. You don't normally see eyes that vibrant."

Hermione's eyes were where the origins of her father shone through. No human had eyes that vibrant. They were Thor's eyes through and through.

"Social graces would dictate that I say thank you," Natasha drawled. "But since you're the son of a bitch who kidnapped me and my daughter, an innocent four year old, I'm disinclined to acquiesce."

Stalin looked at her for a minute and then burst out laughing. The Weavers, who had been standing close behind her chair, shuffled a little closer.

"Perhaps I should speak then since Agent Romanov does not seem in the mood for diplomatic niceties," he said and continued rolling the cigarette back and forth between his fingers.

_I'm sorry, I didn't realize we were discussing the arms race,_ Natasha thought to herself. But she was glad to let Stalin talk. Let him choke on his own air while she thought of a way to get herself out of this along with Hermione.

The little girl had tucked herself into Natasha's side. "What are we gonna do?" she whispered in Russia. She seemed to have gotten the idea that conversing in Russian was better than doing it in English.

"I'll think of something," Natasha whispered back.

She didn't care if her fighting days ended here, Hermione was gonna live to see dawn and there was no way she was going to exist as someone's lab experiment for the next decade until they found someone else.

"Most of the international underground espionage world think that the Weavers are simply an organization with international ties to the black market," Stalin was saying. "And while it started out that way, we are now so much more. While the KGB and the Red Room are fighting over territory and stealing military secrets, we have been honing our craft. What my distance uncle didn't realize that ruling a country simply wasn't enough. The objective should be to _run _the wars, only then is one truly powerful."

That caught Natasha's attention. "You've been dealing to both sides?" she asked.

"You catch on quick," Stalin said approvingly. "While the Yanks and the Commies are fighting amongst themselves, we have been gathering intel, building our own weapons, laying while, watching while the rest of the world is set to burn. And when America and Russia have succeeded in destroying each other in this needless Cold War and weakened the rest of the planet, then they will turn to the people with the most power."

"So that's it?" Natasha asked. "Your plan is to rule the world from an iron throne and assume the mantle of dictator for the planet?"

Stalin smiled, that eerie smile of his that said that there was something that she was missing.

"You Red Room Agents are brilliant, but the one thing they didn't spend enough time teaching you was to think outside the box. The whole world is going to burn eventually Natasha. The thing that really matters is where you are when it happens. Are you vulnerable and out in the open. Or are you watching it from a fortified bunker, sipping an aged cognac while those who are in need of protection pound at your door?"

He eyed her carefully and she returned it without even blinking.

"I am an idealist, but I am a practical one," he continued. "The object of all of this is to get in a position of power and wait until the people take notice. When they do, the first part of this whole process will be complete."

"I see," Natasha murmured. "And how does experimenting on me fit into that venture?"

"I would have thought you would have known that already," Stalin said indulgently. "The one thing that we do not have is that which the Yanks and the Communists possess. What you are."

"So what….you gonna try and clone me?" Natasha asked.

To her surprise, Stalin didn't laugh. In fact he actually appeared to be considering the idea.

"You're all mad," she whispered.

"To live in this world," one must possess some degree of insanity, Agent," Stalin said calmly. Some have it more than others. There is a fine line between insanity and brilliance after all.

_And you got the short end of the stick._

"If you truly think you can clone my DNA, you're welcome to try," Natasha said calmly. She knew she wasn't going to be able to get out of this by fighting at the moment as there were a dozen guns trained on Hermione, so she would have to use persuasion. "But let Hermione go, she has nothing to do with this."

"I'm sorry agent, but using your own words, I am disinclined to acquiesce. You see, the biggest mistake that I could make is to treat you as if you were not a threat. That would be the epitome of narcissism when in reality, you can dispatch everyone in this room of you wanted to without even firing a shot. You are simply that good of a killer. For me to treat any less, would be to take my life into my own hands and insult you in the same go. I cannot do that," he said.

"Your daughter is the only reason we have to keep you here. If we were to let her go, you would fill this fortress with our bodies and leave as if nothing had ever happened here. That would be the height of stupidity. The only way we have to protect ourselves…..is to keep you here. And don't worry, we wouldn't be so foolish as to kill her. We both know that leverage is how negotiation works isn't it? You get what you want, once we get what we want."

Natasha had to give Stalin a bit of credit. The easiest opponents to dispatch were the ones that were overconfident. The ones that were cautious and treated their captives like the threats they should have been called, were a whole lot more conniving.

She also knew that this would take a different amount of leverage. He was obviously too smart to offer her what she wanted….yet. This would have to result in a win – win situation. After all, she only had one thing to lose and she wasn't willing to gamble with that.

Maybe it was time to try this from a different angle.

"And if you succeed in this…..experiment," she said. "Replicating the genesis serum, how do I fit into it?"

"Well we would have no use for you then," Stalin said as cheerfully as if he were discussing the weather. "But your daughter….never before have we encountered someone born from one who was altered by the genesis serum. She is a unique case. If we are successful, she would be the first recipient of it."

"Are you out of your mind?" Natasha snarled, losing all pretences of calm. "If you think I am simply going to let – "

"Let?" Stalin interrupted. "You act as if you have a choice. One of you will leave this place, or both of you will die here. But the matter of whose choice that is, is up to me. Once the genesis serum is recreated….after some tests of course, we will see who responds to the serum better. I'm wagering it would be your daughter. So you see, we don't plan on killing her," he turned and eyed the little girl who had hidden her face in her mother's arm. "But that doesn't mean that she's going to leave this place either."

He turned to his right hand man standing behind his chair. "Take them up to the rooms. They should get comfortable. We're in for an extended stay."

Ω

Looking back, Petunia was amazed at how efficiently the five of them worked together.

It was decided within two minutes that Sirius would take Riley, Harry and Dudley back to the house while Regulus and Petunia apparated back to Privet Drive to find the necessary information on Ivan.

Petunia didn't have a key to Emma's house, but luckily, there were magical means to bypass such obstacles.

Once the wizard and the Muggle were inside the house, it became a search and find mission to find something…..anything on Ivan.

Regulus decided he would take the basement since he was the only one of the five of them that had been down there. Petunia meanwhile, handled the kitchen and carefully began opening the cupboards and peering inside.

The house was immaculately clean. Every bed was made and sheets were tucked in so tight they would have strangled the person who tried to sleep there.

It was ironically, a military house as there was very little there that was unnecessary. There was a purpose to everything in Emma's house. Even the stacked books on the coffee table in the living room were shifted at a ninety degree angle perfectly so they would be the first thing a visitor would catch sight of when they entered the room.

As thoroughly as she was looking however, Petunia's mind was a million miles away, to wherever Emma and Hermione were, wondering if they were alright, wondering if anything or anyone had hurt them.

She refused to contemplate the other option.

The blonde sighed in frustration as she looked around the living room. There had to have been something she was missing. Emma wouldn't just leave information about her adopted father lying around anywhere. It was classified stuff. There had to have been a room or a loose floorboard or a secret compartment hidden behind a bookcase where one simply had to move a book and a lock combination would appear…..

Okay now she was being ridiculous.

_Screw James Bond, _she thought absently to herself as she took books off the shelves in the living room. _I've stepped into Mission: Impossible. And the impossible mission is to find something on Ivan in this completely clean with nothing to hide house!_

After thoroughly searching the ground floor, Petunia realized she should have begun with the more obvious choice and gone upstairs first.

There was nothing about Emma that was obvious though and when a search of her bedroom proved futile, Petunia was frustrated.

"I know you have information in here about Ivan somewhere Emma," she muttered under her breath. "We're kind of going nuts trying to find you, so if you could help me out here, that would be very much appreciated."

She knew she probably sounded nuts, but at the moment she didn't care. A good friend of hers and a little girl who was like her niece had been abducted a quarter of a mile from their beach house where she and Regulus had been going to celebrate their engagement.

Talk about irony.

Deciding she would check the dresser one more time, Petunia headed for the piece of furniture standing by the window and began digging around through the neatly folded clothes.

It was only when she had dug down to the bottom, and her fingers brushed against something with a pointy edge did her mood begin to change. Seizing hold of the object, she pulled it out, expecting it to be a file.

She was disappointed once more when it was revealed to be a photograph.

Petunia was about to put it back when she saw the three figures in the picture and she took a closer look.

It was a photo of Emma and Hermione and Dan. They were standing in the backyard of Emma's house. Dan was holding Hermione in the crook of his left arm and his right arm was around Emma's waist. He was dressed in civilian clothing as she had expected him to be because she had never seen him in his uniform. Hermione's hair was almost too big for her head and it was obvious the photo had been taken when she was only a few months old.

Both Dan and Emma were smiling at the camera, and Petunia could tell it was a real, honest, genuine smile. They both looked so happy and relaxed.

Of course Dan's smile seemed to leap off the glossy eight by ten piece of paper like a sun beam. Seeing him smile, even on paper was almost like being blinded by the sun it was so bright. But it was also so mesmerizing that she couldn't look away.

Yep….Emma must have had the luck of the ages to marry a man who looked like that.

Dan was far too handsome for his own good. Petunia remembered the first time she had met him, she described him to herself as breathtaking, because there simply was no other word for it.

He literally took away her ability to speak when she had first seen him. And the most frustrating part was, he didn't even seem fully aware that he was doing it.

There was something about a man with subtle confidence that just made him so much sexier and Dan seemed to have a natural gifting for it.

The both of them looked so happy in the photograph, and Petunia wondered absently why Emma didn't have any other photos of him up in the house. If she was married to someone like that, she would have wanted the whole world to know it.

But Emma was a very private person and this was also the only photo she had of Hermione too which was odd as well.

_Something like this should be on the wall in a frame, _the blonde thought to herself. _Not stuffed up in a drawer under a pile of clothes._

Her mind then jumped back to reality and she shuddered about what would happen when Dan found out that someone from Emma's past had gone after his wife and daughter. She didn't know how, but he was a man who just appeared…..driven. Call it intuition, but she had a feeling that even if he had no leads, he would still find them.

The thought was oddly relieving.

"Petunia?"

The blonde jumped nearly a foot in the air and the picture in her hand went flying to the floor.

Regulus was standing in the doorway, watching her carefully. "Are you okay? You seem a little…..on edge."

The blonde gave a breathless laugh. "I guess I am. It's not every day that one of your best friends and her daughter get abducted and you're forced to search her house to find information about her adopted father so he can help you find her."

Regulus gave her a sympathetic look before he walked over and pulled her into his arms. "Hey, don't worry, we're gonna find them."

"And what if we don't Reg?" Petunia asked, pulling back so she could look him in the eye. "What if we don't find them in time? I owe Emma more than you know. If she hadn't moved in here, I probably never would have been able to leave Vernon. Harry and Dudley would have been threatened every day because they're both magical and there may have come a time when he would have gotten seriously physically abusive with me. He already hit Harry and that was when Emma told me we had to take matters into our own hands. She helped save me from an abusive marriage and next to Lily, I can easily say she's one of the closest friend's I've ever had."

"I know," the wizard said softly. "I owe her too. She helped me break Siri out of prison and get him released as a free man after four years in Azkaban. In fact we all kind of owe her. Consider this the start of pay back."

"I just keep thinking, what if something happens to Hermione? She's only four years old Reg. It would tear me apart if something like that happened to Harry or Dudley. Hell it _is _tearing me apart!"

Petunia pulled back again and suddenly wiped her blurry eyes. "There are just so many unknowns. We don't know where they are or who we're dealing with and every minute that passes means something else could have gone wrong – "

"Tuney, we don't have all the facts yet and we need to focus on one thing at a time. First we need to find Emma's father. He's gonna be the only one that can help us. So let's stick with what we know. Okay?"

He wiped the tears from her eyes and kissed her on the forehead. "Let's keep looking okay? The information has got to be here somewhere."

She nodded and moved to go back to the dresser.

Regulus then saw the photo on the floor and frowned, bending down to pick it up.

"Petunia?" he asked, turning to his fiancé with the picture in hand. "What's this?"

The blonde turned back around from where she was putting clothes back in the dresser. "Oh, that's Emma and Hermione, and that's her husband Dan, the one I was talking about earlier."

Regulus examined the picture closely. Something about Dan Granger, the tall blonde in the photo, seemed a bit off. And he didn't mean simply because it should be illegal for any man to look that good as it made every other guy seem like Bozo the Clown in comparison. It was this aura there was about him that was so tangible, the younger Black could almost feel it coming through the photograph.

"Do you know if he was a wizard like Emma was a witch?" he asked turning to his fiancé who had shut the dresser drawer and turned back to him.

"She never told me if he was," she said slowly. "I only met him a few times and it was just after Hermione was born. I wondered in the back of my mind if he was, but I never asked her. I'm not sure she would have told me anyway. She never told me much about him. I know he's in the army, and I know he's Norwegian. But that's pretty much it."

"Hmm," was all Regulus said as he handed the photo back to her. Petunia hadn't said much about Emma's husband. But then again, he had never asked. He knew she was married but that was it. However, after looking at the photo, he had a feeling in the back of his mind that maybe there was more to Dan Granger than met the eye.

His fiancé didn't say it, but she was thinking it too.

Petunia put the photo back in the drawer and closed it. The two of them turned and hand in hand, were about to leave the room when all of a sudden one of the floor boards beneath their feet creaked.

Regulus screeched to a stop instantly. "Did you hear that?"

Petunia nodded. "Which one of the floor boards was it?"

Regulus turned around and slowly walked back over the floor again. As soon as his foot made contact with the second floor board away from Petunia, it creaked and he stopped again.

"I think this is the one Tuney," he whispered and pulled out his wand, and pointed it at the floorboard in question.

After muttering a quick spell, the floor board was removed from the floor and their heads met over the space underneath.

"Jackpot," Petunia muttered when they beheld a thick file folder nestled into the dark space beneath the floor.

It was sealed in plastic so the documents inside would be chewed up by insects or damaged by mold or the slow decay of time. It was cream colored and had no markings on the cover, so it could just as easily have been her taxes to the person who didn't know Emma.

But Petunia and Regulus did indeed know her

Regulus reached inside and yanked it out, pulling off the plastic and setting the file on the floor so they could look through it together.

On the first page was a profile of man with salt and pepper hair. He was standing in front of a white back drop as if he were in a prison lineup and he wasn't smiling. He had a strong jawline and even stronger build.

"That's him," Petunia pointed out. "I've only met him once, but he's someone I would remember."

"Okay, now we just need to find a way to contact him," Regulus said, happy that one step had been completed.

Petunia wasted no time in peering through documents and in the back of the file, stapled to the back flap was a business card with the man in questions' name on it, as well as the phone number for a private line.

"Bingo," she said holding it up.

Regulus grinned. "I knew there was a reason I asked you to marry me."

Petunia rolled her eyes and replaced the file folder beneath the floorboard before Regulus put it back with magic.

The both of them hurried downstairs with the business card and Petunia dashed to the phone, seizing it off its cradle.

"Let me do the talking," she said to her fiancé. "He has no idea who you are, but he might remember me."

He nodded and watched as she punched in the numbers on the phone, the both of them waiting patiently while it rang.

"Hello?"

Petunia's breath hitched when she heard a man's voice pick up. "Hello may I please speak to Ivan Bezukhov?"

There was a long pause. "This is him. May I ask who I'm speaking to? This is a private line."

"I'm aware of that," Petunia said. "This is a bit of an emergency though. I don't know if you remember me, but I'm Petunia Dursley, Emma Granger's neighbor. You were at my house almost a year ago."

There was another long pause.

"Yes, I do remember you. Is something wrong? Where's Emma? She's the only one I would give this number out to."

Petunia took a deep breath. "Well…..that's kind of why we're calling you Mr. Bezukhov. Something's happened."

"What do you mean?"

Another deep breath. "Emma and Hermione have gone missing…..and we have reason to believe that there was foul play involved."

The silence that came on the line was much longer than the other two.

"When did this happen?"

Petunia sighed in relief when she realized he was still there and hadn't hung up because he believed this to be a practical joke.

"About an hour ago," she replied. "I remembered you and I figured you would be a better person to talk to than the police because you know her better and what might have happened better than we do."

"Where are you now?" Ivan asked, suddenly all business.

Petunia paused, set the phone down for a second and conferred with Regulus about what she should say.

"Tell him we're at the beach house and give him the address," he replied. She nodded and relayed the information back.

"Alright, I'll be there in about a half an hour, did you happen to take any photos of the crime scene?" he asked.

"I did," Petunia said. "I thought it might come in handy for later. My fiancé and my son and nephew and brother in law were there too, so they might be able to answer some question as well."

"Good, I will see you out there."

He rang off without even saying goodbye, but Petunia wasn't offended. She had just told him that his daughter and grandchild had disappeared and there might have been foul play. Being polite wouldn't have been the first thing on her mind either.

"Now what?" Regulus asked when she turned back to him after hanging up the phone.

"Now we get back to the beach house. Ivan's coming, and I have a feeling he'll be bringing reinforcements."

Ω

It took quite a bit to make the god of lightning and storms angry, but one of the few things that would send his temper shooting through the roof was if his movement was restricted in any way. The sky was essentially one of the places where he felt most comfortable and if he wasn't allowed to travel at all…..well that only served to put him in a very bad mood.

Those were the costs of war, Odin had told him.

The war with the Nine Realms had gone on much longer than anyone had expected and the All Father, weary of the bloodshed, had ordered his people to return to Asgard upon which he and Heimdall erected a barrier about the whole of the city.

No one was allowed in and no one was allowed out. No exceptions.

It was that law that Thor had been contesting when he strode from the throne room, muttering curses under his breath, his clenched fists crackling with electricity as he stalked away from the great doors.

Loki fell into step alongside him. "You need to curb this temper of yours brother," he said. "The last thing you want is for Odin to become suspicious of why you wish to leave so badly."

The blonde whirled on his brother and fixed him with a glare so cold it could freeze the earth's core.

"Nine months," was all he said. "It has been nine months by Asgardian time that I have not been allowed to leave. Asgardian time is slower than Midgardian time. The amount of time that would have passed there is two years." He paused so his brother would get the message.

"It has been two years since I last saw Natasha and my daughter. Yet he will not see sense," he snarled gesturing to the throne room doors that were farther off down the hallway.

Loki seized him by the shoulder. "If you truly wish to see them again, you will hold your tongue. You don't know how many of his spies are about. If he is to find out the secret you are keeping, at best you will never leave Asgard again and at worst you will be exiled."

They had reached one of the many balconies of the palace. Thor leaned against it and gripped the railing so hard that he could feel it begin to crumble beneath his hands.

The sun was shining upon the palace, but a war raged outside their borders and it was killing him to simply sit there and do nothing. It wasn't who he was.

But even more than that, he wished to leave. Hermione…..his daughter would be four years old now. He had been robbed of the opportunity to hear her say her first words, take her first steps….

She might have even been reading by now. Knowing Natasha and her advanced state of being, she would expect nothing but the best from their daughter.

And speaking of Natasha, the beautiful red head had been on his mind more and more. She was there when he woke up and when he went to sleep at night, asking…..no demanding in that drawling tone that would have impressed even Loki, where the hell he was and how come she had to explain to their daughter why her daddy wasn't there right now.

Every time he thought of that, it was like a lance to his chest.

Damn Odin!

The fighting had been intense enough when they were out there in the thick of it, but now here they were, hiding behind magical barriers like scared rabbits because Odin did not wish for anymore Asgardian blood to be shed.

He was a fool! If they didn't do something, the Nine Realms would erupt further into chaos and perhaps an even stronger enemy would arise to quell the rebellions and then they would have an even more sinister foe.

"Just give it some time," Loki said clapping his shoulder. "This will all be over soon enough."

He strode back into the palace and Thor remained out there for a little while longer, content to curse fate before going back to his room.

Once there, he shut the door and stripped off his outer tunic so he was bare from the waist up and strode to the wash basin in the corner of the room.

He bent down and splashed some water onto his face, hoping the cool water would calm him somewhat.

It didn't.

He wondered how much Hermione had grown, how her mother was.

Suddenly, a disconcerting thought entered his brain. It had been so long since he had been back…..suppose some other had come along and stolen Natasha's attentions?

Logic told him he was being ridiculous, that she wasn't that type of woman. But logic has no hold on the imagination and the thought of the red head with someone else caused the rage he had been feeling at not being able to leave to become even more acute.

There was a crack and when he looked down, he cursed aloud, realized he had broken the wash basin and spilled water everywhere. With a wave of his hand he cleaned it up.

He had no exclusive claim to Natasha and it wasn't as if she was a piece of property to stake a claim on. She was a living breathing person…..but someone he had grown to care very much about.

But the burning feeling in his chest that came with the thought of her with someone else didn't go away.

_I fear I must be losing my mind, _he thought to himself grimly. _Another reason the All Father is such a fool. Closed in spaces are not good for me._

He seized one of the wash cloths off the railing near him and wiped his face roughly.

He was about to turn away and reach for the tunic once more when all of a sudden, something blinking caught his eye.

It was coming from the box that had been stored on the top of the table next to his bed.

Frowning he strode forward and opened it, only to be confronted with the identical pendent he had given Natasha, blinking madly.

He stared at it in shock for a moment before the full weight of the meaning behind the blinking crashed over him like a wave, and he swore violently.

The blonde snatched up the pendent which was burning hot to the touch, fastened it about his neck, adorned the tunic in one fluid movement along with his armor and strode from the room as fast as he had ever moved.

Ω

"Are you out of your mind?" Loki demanded when his brother found him in the gardens. "Do you know what the penalty will be if you're caught?"

"Speak to me no more of consequence," Thor said waving his hand. "I came to you for help, not admonitions. You are quite adept at the bending the truth are you not?"

Loki just stared at him, waiting for him to get to the point of the story.

"I need to leave," Thor said finally. "Its not merely wanting to anymore, I _need _to leave."

"Why do you – "

Loki was cut off when his brother pulled the blinking pendent from beneath his armor for him to see. The other god's eyes widened when he saw it, and then understanding cleared his face.

Only he and Thor knew the significance of that pendent, that it was held by another and would alert the god if that person was ever in danger.

The dark haired god cursed as he knew there was no talking his brother out of this now. It was far too important that he leave.

"Very well," he said. "If you're quite serious about leaving…..there is a way of doing it without Heimdall seeing."

Despite the tense air, Thor smirked. "And am I to understand that you have been erecting this method of passage since Odin placed the ban on all travel to and from Asgard?"

Loki smirked in return. "You know me so well brother. Now come, if you're really serious about this insane venture…then we had best be getting to it right now. I would hate to be the mortals who have endangered Natasha and Hermione when you arrive on Midgard."

"What are we waiting for?" Thor asked, the desire for retribution sizzling in his blood. "Come, let us waste no more time as there is too little of it to spare."

Ω

**Okay I know this is late. DON'T SHOOT ME! *dives behind couch to hide* But this one is a bit longer than the others so I hope it makes up for it. Enjoy!**

**Now before I leave off until the next chapter, I believe there are a few things I should answer first. Some of these questions have been asked back in the day from previous chapters that I just never got around to answering, but I'm going to do so right now without delay. For those of you who have already read this chapter, I'm sure you'll see it again if you re-read before I post the next one.**

**1\. No, Harry is not related to Loki or Asgard in any way shape or form. He is the child of James and Lily Potter, that's it. I didn't want to write this story that way because this is a tale about Hermione, not anyone else. I see a lot of stories where Harry is the only one with connections to Asgard and the Nine Realms. While those stories are great, its not very often that we get to see other characters form those relationships. That was one of the reasons I started this story. It was almost always Harry with the power ups. In this story he's just a regular wizard who just happens to best friends with Dudley and Hermione. **

**2\. This leads into my next point. THIS IS NOT A HARMONY STORY. I'm sorry to those who are a fan of pairing, but I have never been one to jump on board that train. To me, they're too much like brother and sister. I'm the kind of person who values platonic relationship much more than romantic ones and Harry and Hermione have a close brother and sister relationship in this story, nothing more. To me, its far more interesting to see characters paired with people who we didn't hear much from in the canon stories. So no, all the pairings in this story, are not really what you're might expect. Make of that what you will. **

**3\. I already decided this when I wrote this chapter, that there will be no Jane in this story. I haven't read the comic version of her, so she might be cooler in that one, but I wasn't really a fan of her in the movies. I just felt she didn't do much for the story line. But that's my personal opinion. You might feel differently and that's perfectly fine. But in this story, Thor's already got two girls, and that's more than enough for him ;)**

**4\. Yes, the Avenger will be brought in eventually. The story line will be somewhat AU for the HP verse, but will be pretty canon for the Marvel verse. Why change a good thing right? If it ain't broke, don't fix it.**

**5\. For those of you who are getting impatient for Hogwarts to arrive, don't worry. There just needs to be a little more character development and then we'll be there, I promise. Voldemort will occur before the Avengers Arc, just so you know.**

**6\. I'm not a fan of the Marauders so don't expect me to write glorious things about them. They were people just like you and me and in my opinion were arrogant bullying idiots when they were in school. I'm wary of Sirius Black just like Natasha is. I'm willing to give him a chance, but he did attempt murder when he was in school, so I want everyone to keep an open mind about that. In my opinion, Lily was never the perfect paragon of virtue and grace, so please don't expect me to write her as such.**

**Oh and one final thing, when I do write these characters I do picture Scar Jo as Natasha in this story and Chris Hemsworth as Thor. Cuz hot dang, he is an absolute stud. It's his voice that gets me the most. It freaking gives me the shivers!**

**Ahem...anyway where was I? **

**Oh right. **

**I think that answers all the questions, but if not, feel free to PM me and ask. Enjoy the chapter and I'll see you on the next update!**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Stalin had said that something he was unwilling to do with the newest guest in his reconstructed fortress was to not treat her as if she were a threat. In effect, Natasha Romanov was someone very dangerous to be housed under this roof. She had weaknesses to be sure like all of them did, but that weakness was also tied to a ticking time bomb as well.

Cut off the head of the snake, and it can still bite you even as it's dying.

That was why under no circumstances, was he willing to kill her daughter. There would be nothing they could use as leverage against her then. The only way they were going to get what they wanted was if they kept the little girl alive. She was the only way thing they had to make Natasha cooperate.

She had said that she didn't make idle promises…..well he didn't either. She was in fact, one of the most dangerous people in the word. Every target she had been assigned, she had taken out with a deadly and lethal force, and her name was one of the most feared in the underground world.

One of the things Petrov had inherited from his distant uncle was tactics. He knew how to appeal to people, he knew what buttons to press and he knew which people to have around him. He also knew that having an agent who had been as hot as Romanov was in the past in this fortress was taking a huge gamble.

She had been the top agent in the Red Room almost since she completed basic training, but she was also at the top of their kill list if something were to happen and all their agents went rogue.

He hadn't been lying when he said he was an idealist…..a practical one, but an idealist no less. He did want power, but he was patient when he dealing with his opponents.

Life was a chess game after all and this Cold War business was simply one aspect. He would be surprised if it lasted for a decade more. The Soviet Union was dying, and the American's were slowly sinking beneath the cloak on anonymity. If one country became too powerful, they would become lax in their usage of it.

The one thing that the Soviet Union had done right was employ the use of highly trained sleeper agents. They had deployed many to the United States who were simply waiting for the go signal. It was the one aspect of the country he hated that he had admired.

Joseph had been content to rule Russia…..Petrov wanted to rule the world. But he was patient enough to wait for it to happen in its own time. And in the meanwhile…..he would just help it alone as best he could. The entire planet was subconsciously waiting for another world super power to dominate humanity and it was bound to happen what with the unrest in the Middle East, America heating up its star wars program and Cuba hated the west to begin with.

He had already sent spies to Central America to make contact with the restless natives there, and once the genesis serum was replicated from Romanov, they would implant it in the people they would recruit there and finally have a leg in the west.

Romanov had been one of the first subjects of the genesis serum which had given them time to work out all the kinks in it, trim away any impurities and basically mold her into the perfect soldier.

Unlike any of the other sexist political bastards out there, Stalin had no problem with the fact that she was a woman. If anything, she was already underrated which made her far more predictable. The fact that she was seriously easy on the eyes only helped her image as being a stealth killer because no one would expect it.

They would have an army of her before long and armed with the weapons that the scientists had been building that the Weavers had employed…..the world would be theirs for the taking.

The entire world had issues to pull out and once they pulled the stick from the rear end of the United States, well, the sky was the limit from there.

"Sir?"

Stalin looked up from the fire and the rolled cigar in his fingers to Pietro, his right hand man, to use such a cliché phrase. The taller blonde standing by his chair with the hard black eyes was someone who was unswervingly loyal.

He had been the first person Stalin had recruited when he fled Russia fifteen years before. While he had never been a Red Room Agent, he had never spoken of his own training. Stalin never asked because it wasn't necessary that he know. He didn't know a thing about the people who worked for him and they didn't know anything about him either.

The shared one thing in common though…power.

Whether they had it in physical amounts, mental amounts, or intellectual amounts, they all had it, and they all wanted more of it.

"Yes Pietro?"

"The child…..what do you want to do with her?"

That was another thing Stalin hadn't been expecting until he had heard it from the scientists mouth with his own ears.

Credit to Romanov for always being a surprise.

It shouldn't have been possible for her to adhere to the regular human genome and get pregnant. Which only made the question of who the child's father was that much more intriguing. He must have been someone of equal to, or greater power than Romanov herself. That also made the girl one of the world's rarest commodities because someone of her makeup shouldn't have been possible.

If Romanov died, it would be a shame, but her daughter was far too important to lose. She was young enough that she could still be molded and seemingly quite intelligent if she was already learning Russian.

Hermione…interesting.

"Put her in the cell next to her mother," Stalin ordered. "We want to stay on Romanov's good side if we want to keep her cooperation."

Pietro nodded and turned to leave, but looked back after a second. "What do you have planned for her?"

Stalin didn't look at his lieutenant when he replied the second time.

"Something unpleasant."

Ω

Not even Regulus could get Petunia to calm down when they made it back to the beach house.

They explained to Sirius and the boys what was going to happen and that Emma's father would be arriving to help them find the brunette. They were to answer any questions he asked, but to say nothing about their magic.

Both of the little boys were wide eyed as they gave their consent not to say anything. Mione was still missing and Aunt Emma was in trouble, which was all they knew. Aunt Tuney, Uncle Reg and Uncle Siri were being very tight lipped about the whole thing.

"Dud?" Harry whispered as they sat quietly on the couch with Riley as the adult paced and talked in harsh tones in the kitchen. "Do you think Aunt Emma and Mione are okay?"

"I don't know," the other four year old said. "Aunt Emma will protect her, I think. But Aunt Emma's cool. She helped Uncle Reg get Uncle Siri out of prison."

Their knowledge about the mother of their best friend was even less that Petunia and Regulus's.

This such information was also driving the three adults in the kitchen crazy as they waited for Emma's adoptive father to arrive.

"He's got to know more about Emma than we do," Petunia was saying. "He's raised her since she was eight years old. There have got to be things that he knows about why she disappeared or who took her and Hermione."

"Tuney, you need to calm down," Regulus said reaching out and taking her hand. "Ivan's going to be here soon enough and we need to get our stories straight on what we know about Emma."

"First things first then," Sirius interjected. "He probably knows that Emma is a witch too, if he's raised her since she was a child."

"Hold on a second," Regulus interrupted. "When we were getting ready for your trial Siri, she told me that she had been inducted into military service when she was fourteen years old. And from what I see and the spells she knows, she hasn't really had any formal training in magic, so that means she never went to school for it, and as far as we know her father's a Muggle."

"Wait just a second," Petunia said cutting him off. "She never told me she joined the military when she was fourteen. In the Muggle military you can't be drafted until you're eighteen. What kind of military service inducts and trains teenagers?"

"Remember she said she was in the Special Forces Tuney?" Regulus said. "Maybe they start with the younger civilians."

"But that doesn't make sense," Sirius said. "If they were more intensive than the Muggle Military wouldn't they need to train people who are older and more mature so they can know what to expect?"

"Not necessarily," Petunia said slowly. "In fact….and this is a conspiracy theory of course….there were some underground government agencies that took in people as young as ten to mold them and train them into the perfect killing machines. They were given strange medicines and supplements to take which would slow the aging process, make them run faster, hit harder and see farther than anyone else. They were then sent overseas to wait in enemy territory to strike on the government. They were called sleeper agents."

"How the hell do you know all of this?" Sirius asked.

"I don't know if any of this is true Siri," Petunia replied. "Vernon used to be interested in that sort of thing and would spend hours watching shows about conspiracy theories that happened back in World War II. After a while, I just started paying attention with him."

"So let me get this straight," Regulus said. "You want to claim that Emma is some sort of former super soldier sleeper agent who got out when she was pregnant with Hermione and has been living as a regular house wife for the past four years until someone from her past caught up with her and kidnaped her and her daughter?"

"Of course not!" Petunia snapped. "All I'm saying is I'm someone who's open to any possibility. Emma did say she was in the Special Forces which means that she would have a reputation as a seasoned…..well….I'm not sure what. But if she was part of a specialized unit, we can only assume that her past was…somewhat violent. It begs the question…..how much do we actually know about Emma Granger?"

It was an inquiry no one had the answer to, but it left everyone feeling somewhat unsettled because of the potential ramifications that it drew.

Emma was a good friend and Petunia had been planning to make her the godmother of Harry and Dudley, but with this recent development, Petunia was beginning to question how much she knew about her friend. Emma had been very tight lipped about her past and even more so about Dan's.

What did it all mean? And if someone from her past had indeed caught up to her, what was the objective in taking Hermione too?

And where the hell was she?

As one might expect, the answers to these questions weren't answered with a thunder clap from the sky. There was no noise at all in fact.

Except for the sound of someone knocking on the door.

Petunia jerked in surprise. She exchanged quick glances with Regulus and Sirius and the three of them darted for the door. Harry and Dudley upon hearing the noise got up, but were barked at by their aunt and mother to stay there.

Petunia hurried down the short hallway to the front door and took a deep breath, composing herself before she reached for the handle.

Everything was going to be alright. Ivan was here, he was going to help them find Emma and Hermione and hopefully this whole nightmare could be put behind them.

Hopefully.

When Petunia pulled the door open her first reaction upon seeing Emma's father was that a G.I. Joe doll had been brought to life and animated.

The man standing in front of her was built like a rock and had a jawline to match. His salt and pepper hair was perfectly arrayed in the standard crew cut of those who had seen a long time in military service. He was dressed all in black complete with the gun at his waist, but Petunia had a feeling if he was asked to produce more weapons that he would have them hidden in places that she would never think to put a weapon in. In fact she wouldn't have been surprised to find out that he had had one implanted in his skin.

He stood a head taller than she and despite the fact that he was middle age was still very well built and quite good looking. Solid would be the word Petunia would use to describe them. He looked like the type of person who could be run over by a truck and he still wouldn't move.

Despite the military strong silent type good looks, he and Emma looked somewhat similar. They both had this worldly look in their eyes as if they had seen many things and had nerves of steel from what they had gone through. But they both had this calming presence that would dispel any anxiety the people around them might be feeling.

The blonde was instantly glad they had found his number and called him.

Upon seeing her, Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Petunia Dursley I presume?"

She blinked for a second and then remembered herself. "Yes and you must be Ivan." They shook hands. "Please come in."

When they entered the living room, Regulus who had been bent down in front of Harry and Dudley explaining what was happening to them , shooed them off to the playroom upstairs, straightened up and strode over with his hand outstretched. "Regulus Black Mr. Bezukhov. I'm Petunia's fiancée, its nice to meet you."

Ivan nodded formally and gripped the proffered hand in a vice like hold. When he moved on to do the same to Sirius, Regulus grimaced at Petunia and rubbed his hand to indicate that Emma's father had a grip like iron.

"So," Ivan said when all the societal etiquette norms had been completed. "I assume that the tide and the rain have washed away all the footprints and whatever blood was there on the sand. Would you mind showing me the pictures you took?"

Petunia hurried to get the picture phone while the rest of them sat down.

Something Regulus noticed about Emma's father was the fact that while everyone else seemed to fidget or move a finger or touch their hair or flick their eyes from side to side, Ivan was completely still sitting on the couch. The only movement he made was his blinking and Regulus couldn't even see him breathing.

Then again, that's what he supposed a lifetimes of military service would do to you.

Petunia hurried back in again and handed the phone to him. "These are the photos I took Mr. Bezukhov. The tide was starting to wash them away when we found them, but they still seemed pretty fresh."

"Just Ivan is fine," the agent said as he took the phone, not even looking at her. Somehow, Petunia didn't feel the need to be offended. Forward and brutally direct just seemed to be his manner. If she had dealt with criminals and terrorists for her entire life, she wouldn't want to say more than was necessary to people too.

"And you said you noticed her missing around two hours ago?" he asked when the deathly quiet in the room ceased when he finished looking through the pictures.

He had been so silent looking through them that Petunia for a moment thought she was looking at a statue.

Then again, he was an agent, a soldier. Gathering intel was probably part of the job profile.

Ivan meanwhile, was inwardly cursing because the people who had taken Emma and Hermione had left very little trace evidence behind. That means they were efficient, clean, proactive and that they knew her well enough to discern when to get her alone and what her weaknesses would be.

The only question was what Hermione had been doing out there. She might have gone for a walk with her mother, as that was the only explanation he could think of at the moment.

The group who had taken them had to have been close by. Perhaps there was a base of operations around here somewhere.

But if that were true, wouldn't the BSS have noticed something at this point and dispatched a team to bring in this unknown terrorist group?

_Not necessarily, _his brain said to him. _There are a lot of old government buildings and historical sites in this area that have long since been empty since the Second World War. In fact, they're all up and down the coast. It wouldn't surprise me if there were hundreds of them. BSS wouldn't send anyone to investigate what would be an abandoned warehouse or an old political building that some long dead general houses his base in unless they had reason to believe that suspicious activities were being carried out. If whoever took them was quiet enough, they would be almost completely undetected._

It wasn't a very pleasant thought that there might have been something that the agency overlooked and Ivan wasn't eager to entertain it. He didn't believe in the infallibility of anything and yet it wasn't a comfortable thought to think that his daughter and grandchild had been kidnapped because of something that he missed.

"Yes," Petunia replied. "Regulus and I recently got engaged and the seven of us came out here to celebrate it. When we got here, Emma said she was going to go for a run on the beach and Hermione went to go and play with Harry and Dudley. I thought she was still with them until I came upon the two boys in the playroom and asked them where Hermione was. They said that they didn't know and we went out to look for her after that. About a mile down the beach or so, we discovered her footprints, Emma's and a whole other group of them. Plus, there was a drop of blood and we have reason to think that it might be Hermione's."

"Really?" Ivan asked raising an eyebrow. "And how did you go about analyzing this drop of blood in the time that you called me?"

It was a trick question. He had seen the wand slightly poking out of Petunia's fiancée's sleeve as well as the other odd piece of wood that was hidden behind the bowl of fruit on the coffee table which he could only assume was his brother's.

He had known Emma was a witch. She had never told him what had happened the day her parents died, only that it was related to magic and that she wouldn't be caught up in that world anymore. He knew about the occasional spell she could do, but she had learned to control it from a young age and…..turn it off almost. She had superb control from what Ivan had seen and they had never talked about her past as a witch after that. He had been okay with that, as there were some things even beyond his comprehension.

The world of magic could stay where it was as long as it didn't interfere with his life and what he did.

Natasha seemed to share the same sentiments.

Petunia paled and he decided that he wouldn't toy with her. "You can relax Miss Dursley, I know Emma was a witch and I saw the tip of your fiancé's wand poking out of his sleeve when I came in and sat down. I don't know much about that world, but I am familiar with it."

The blonde slumped in relief and he could tell that such knowledge would make it easier for her to explain things.

"I wasn't sure if she told you," she replied. "She told me after we had been neighbors for a few months but I wasn't sure how many others were privy to the information."

"…..Emma was very selective with who she told that information to," Ivan said slowly almost reverting to calling her Natasha before he remembered himself and that these people didn't know a clue about her past. "She only told people she was a witch if she felt she could trust them. She obviously trusts you a great deal."

Petunia looked like she was about to cry and Regulus, seeing this squeezed her hand to offer some comfort.

"How do we find her Mr. Bezukhov?" he asked. "Every minute the trail goes colder and we have less and less leads. There has to be something we can do to find Hermione and Emma."

Ivan had to give his daughter credit. She had sure made an impression on these people if they were that concerned about her. He knew Hermione would have no trouble doing that as it was impossible not to fall in love with her. But with Emma it was a stretch. She had always been somewhat cynical and aloof since she had seen her parents burn to death in front of her. He had been shocked when she told him she wasn't going to abort the baby…..not because he wanted it to happen mind you, but because it had been so out of character for her to suggest that.

Maybe living as a partial domestic for the past four years had freed up her personality and compassionate side somewhat.

Goodness knows he had been worried about that never developing.

Ivan pressed his hands together and leaned forward on the couch slightly. "Before we call in a team, we need to have definitive proof that there was foul play involved."

He raised a hand to cease the protests he knew were coming. "I believe you, but the agency I work for would not as inclined to. So first things first."

He rubbed his hands together and gave each of them a hard look. "I need to ask you how well you knew Emma Granger."

Petunia exchanged glances with her fiancé and brother in law. "We only know what she told us. She was a non-practicing witch who had been a part of a specialized branch of the Muggle Military before she was honorably discharged to have Hermione, apparently her husband is still there, but we don't know where he's serving."

Romanov had certainly covered all her bases. These people had no idea that her "husband" had been an ex-partner that she had never heard from again after some type of situation in America a few years ago when Hermione had been conceived. She had told them very little of her situation and only said as much as was needed to be said.

Which apparently hadn't been much.

If there was one thing his adoptive daughter had been incredible at, it was keeping secrets and telling lies. She was the fiercest fighter he had ever seen, and now that she had a daughter to look out for, that would make her triply dangerous.

"I can see that she hasn't told you much then," he said which caused both Regulus and Petunia to exchange glances and frown at the cryptic statement. His brother had been curiously quiet but was watching Ivan carefully.

"There isn't very much I can tell you about her that is within my range to tell, but in order to find her, it will be imperative that you know enough."

The three adults didn't say anything and he could see them almost unconsciously sit forward on the couch…..waiting.

"The first thing you need to know is that Emma was not part of a Special Forces Task unit affiliated with the Muggle Military."

"I knew it," Regulus muttered under his breath and Petunia went pale, as if she hadn't been expecting to hear those words.

"Well then…..where did she learn to fight like that sir?" Sirius asked as he and Regulus were the only ones who had gotten a glimpse of what she could do.

"Emma was part of a secret initiative formed and funded by the Russian government to counteract the activities of the Americans in the last decade. The Yanks had the Star Wars program, while the Soviets had their eyes on…something else."

"Just what do you mean Mr. Bezukhov?" Regulus asked.

Ivan took a deep breath and debated on how much he should tell them. Natasha had obviously trusted them which means that he could too as she wasn't someone who would trust easily. Most of this was her story to tell however and he would honestly have let her do it if her past hadn't been what had gotten her and Hermione into trouble.

"Emma was part of this initiative," he said and watched their reactions carefully.

For some reason, both Regulus and Sirius didn't look that surprised, but Petunia paled at the mention of it.

"So yes, she was part of a group that was comprised of highly trained special soldiers…..but it wasn't what you might expect."

Ω

_This is hardly the Ritz Carlton, _Natasha thought as she looked around the holding cell where they had placed her.

It was, to put it simple a stone cell in the wall that reminded her of the cells prisoners of war had been placed in during the Second World War.

There was a single window looking out on the ocean and the city that was far, far away. Of course she couldn't see much as it was still nighttime and the sound of cars on the road was all but gone save for the sound of the tide as it crashed against the rocks of the peninsula they were trapped on. There was a small cot with a thin blanket in the corner of the room as well as a pitcher of water and what appeared to be a single toilet on the opposite side.

Definitely not the Ritz Carlton.

Her main concern though was for Hermione.

Her little girl had been placed in the cell next to her and though the walls were thin, Natasha had balked at letting them put the little four year old by herself though.

With the gun in Hermione's back though, she had no choice but to comply with what the Weavers wanted.

The only small comfort was knowing they were right next to each other.

"Mummy?" the little girl whispered, knowing somehow that her mother could hear her. "Who are they? Where…..where are we?"

It broke her heart, not being able to answer her little girl's questions, but she didn't know who was listening and if the walls might have been bugged.

"Bed men Mione. They're not very nice people. Mummy had a run in with them a long time ago and they don't like me very much."

It was the best she could do at the moment.

"What did you do Mummy?"

She could have sworn that her little girl sounded almost curious. Despite the daunting situation they were in and the fact that the both of them might not walk out of this alive, Hermione was _curious _about her mother's past.

Natasha pondered how much to tell her and how much she would actually be able to understand.

"Well…..Mummy was sent to stop them by her old job, the one I had before you arrived. I took something from them, but they didn't like that, so they came after us."

Their positions were somewhat odd.

Natasha was sitting with her back to the wall of the stone cell and if one could see Hermione at the moment, she was doing the exact same thing. Both were taking comfort in the fact that they were as near to the other as they could possibly be.

"Mummy?"

"Yes Mione?"

"I miss Harry and Duddy and Aunt Tuney and Uncle Reg and Uncle Siri."

"I know Mione, so do I…..so do I."

"What's gonna happen to us?"

Her tone turned uncertain and a little scared and Natasha knew in that moment that she had to convince her four year old that she was going to make it out alive even if she didn't believe it, or didn't think that she herself would be able to.

"Nothing's going to happen to us Mione, we're going to be just fine. Don't worry, we'll see everyone else soon enough."

Now if she could just bring herself to believe it.

"Mione?"

"Yes Mummy?"

Natasha steeled herself for calm here as she was about to ask something that would be very difficult.

"When the time comes, and I tell you to run…..you have to listen to me. You have to run as fast as you can. Don't look back, don't stop, and don't listen to them above all else. You only have one job, and that's to listen to me. You run as fast as your legs can carry you. No matter what they say, you listen to me. Even if I'm not with you, you run. Do. You. Understand. Me?"

There was a long silence from the other side of the wall and Natasha pressed her ear to the cold stone to make sure she heard Hermione's answer.

"Mummy," the little girl whispered and the scared and almost broken tone in her voice tore at Natasha's heart. "Are you not gonna come with me?"

Typical of her little girl to only focus on her.

"I….I don't know Mione. These are bad men, they've been after me for a long time and they're not nice. They will try and hurt you. Don't trust them. So yes, even if I'm not with you, I want you to run when I tell you to. Don't listen to anyone else but me. Okay?"

Again, there was a long silence and Natasha could have sworn she almost heard whimpering which made her grip the stone in rage in an effort to try and get to her little girl. She hated them for doing this to her daughter. If she was in this alone, she would've broken out by now, but with Hermione, the situation was ten times more dangerous.

"But I want you to know," she went on. "I am going to do everything to make it out with you. We are going to escape, and you are going to be fine."

"O…..okay Mummy," Hermione whispered. She sounded shaken up and Natasha continued making a list in her head of what she was going to do in meticulous detail to those who had hurt or scared her daughter.

Revenge would be more than a bitch for these bastards.

"Why don't you try and get some sleep?" she suggested and Hermione paused for a minute before sniffling, "Okay Mummy."

Natasha heard her slowly get to her feet and shuffle slowly to the part of the room where she assumed the cot was and then heard the squeak of old springs as she lay down.

Natasha thought for a minute, desperately searching for some way to comfort her girl so she perhaps would sleep easier.

But there were sometimes when simple words failed and so instead of saying comforting words, she quietly began singing the lullaby in Russian that she had sun in the van on the way here.

Gradually Hermione's sniffling ceased, and her breathing deepened as she slowly drifted off to sleep.

When it was obvious that the little strawberry blonde was out, Natasha turned from where she was leaning against the wall singing the song quietly and leaned the back of her head against the wall and closed her eyes. They were stinging in the corners and she blinked furiously to not turn into a ball of emotions. Tears wouldn't help her right now.

She had been in plenty of hostage situations with other people before, partners, civilians, even some teenagers at times, though it had been a long time ago.

But this was so new to her and this wasn't an experience she was eager to have now or again. This was her daughter, a part of her, who was being threatened and the things that made Natasha want to do to them would make the Geneva Convention want to put her away for crimes of insanity and against humanity.

But there wasn't going to be much she was able to do if she was dead. These men would inject her little girl with the serum and then mold her into even more of a weapon than Natasha had been. That couldn't be allowed to happen. Hermione wouldn't go up the way she had. One might think that the physical, mental and intellectual benefits far outweighed any other consequences, but then those people didn't have a freaking clue as to what those people went through to get to those so called benefits.

And speaking of things people had gone through, Natasha chose that moment to think of a certain blonde who had been MIA for the past two years of his daughter's life. It was very difficult to not feel angry in that moment.

_Damn it Thor! Where are you?! I'm able to overlook a lot if you're still fighting a war, but unless you are being physically prevented from coming to earth, than you have more of an explanation to make when you do come back!_

Natasha was seething with rage at this point. She didn't want him to come for her, if that were the case she would be no better than Lois Lane in the Superman comics. What she wanted was for him to come and rescue his daughter, a little four year old whose world up until this point had consisted of her mother, her two best friends her aunt a dog and Reg and Siri. All she had known was playing hide and seek with Harry and Riley and Dudley. She had been excited to see her aunt and uncle get married on the beach and to play with Riley and her best friends.

These were all things a little girl should be concerned about and things that Natasha was going to make sure she got to experience, Stalin be damned!

Moving over from the wall now that she was assured that her little girl was asleep, Natasha sat down on the edge of the cot and put her face in her hands.

She had to think of a solution to get Hermione out of here.

For tomorrow…..hell would begin.

Ω

It had taken a considerable amount of time for Thor and Loki to get down to the dungeons of the palace where the prisoners were located, make sure that all of them were indisposed so none of them would remember this later and make their way through a maze of magic that was often used as torture for the most notorious prisoners to reach the doorway that Loki claimed was an illegal portal to the other Nine Realms.

Throughout the hours that followed, Thor lost count of the times his whole being crackled with a ferocious electricity for the time that had passed. Time on Asgard was slower than time on earth so it was likely that both Natasha and Hermione had been in the grasp of whoever intended to do them harm for almost a day.

The only problem was that he hadn't known when the necklace had first started blinking so it was also possible that he had been away from it for far too long and it had been blinking for hours or perhaps days.

An inhuman growl sounded deep in his throat at the thought of that prospect, causing Loki to raise an eyebrow at him.

Thor swallowed hard and worked hard to get a handle on his crackling emotions before they obliterated everything around him and gave clarity to their location.

The maze had been on the far side of the prison and so they had had to walk by each and every cell and prisoner in order to make it there.

The walls of the maze rose high above their head and were a deep bronzy gold tone. They also gave off a humming sound that was quite distracting so as to make the loss of focus to those who were put in the maze even more acute.

The maze was like a living breathing organism because it adapted to the thought processes of your mind and knew your inmost desires. Most of the prisoners wanted to find a way out and the maze would know it, so it would constantly torture them with images of a gateway or doorway or even window leading to the outside. This would cause the prisoners to have hope that this ordeal would soon be over, hurry towards it, only to discover that it was a fake. For some of them, this proved too much after a while as there were also painful tortures to be found around every corner and the constant hum was enough to drive one insane if they were there for long enough.

Thor however was already too distracted to notice it. The thought of anyone putting their hands on Natasha and Hermione caused his blood to boil and he ignored the humming by focusing on the meticulous ways that he was going to torture those who had harmed his daughter and…well that would be discussed later.

Loki didn't seem to be as affected by the humming, but he was a trickster first and foremost and there were still times when it was difficult for Thor to catch him in a lie.

"How much farther is it?" the blonde asked as they turned yet another corner and neutralized the acid that spewed out at them from the wall.

"Only a few more minutes," Loki replied quietly.

The maze hadn't been used in a few years as they hadn't had a criminal that was quite so…..notorious in the prison since, but it's effects were no less potent.

"I discovered this several years ago. Unfortunately it is none of my handiwork. Apparently many hundreds of years ago, this maze was still being used," Loki explained as they walked carefully along. "There was a prisoner at the time who had been incarcerated for the near destructions of Asgard. He had a special…..affinity for hiding items and creating things that others could not see."

"Which explains why you were able to see this portal or doorway at all," Thor finished and his brother nodded.

"I chanced upon it a number of years ago. It had been temporarily closed and would require the magic of someone who could see it to open. Naturally….that was me," he said in a smug tone and Thor rolled his eyes.

"So where is it?" he asked as they ducked under yet another set of blades that had shot out from the wall to jab at them.

"Not much further," Loki replied.

Of course not much further meant another hour and Thor at this point could feel the air sizzling around him as if it was being fried, as he was getting so impatient with the way things were shaping up.

Finally however, Loki turned one last corner which thankfully didn't have a trap hidden behind it and they came in sight of a smooth wall that had no ridges or markings and was as bronzy gold as the rest of the walls in the maze.

"We have arrived," Loki said and bent down on the ground by a spot on the wall.

Thor was just about to ask where exactly it was before he remembered that his brother had the eye of one who knew when secrets were being kept and therefore would be the only one who would be able to see the door.

"How long do you think it will take to open?" he asked.

"Several minutes perhaps," the trickster god replied. He had placed his hands along the surface of the wall and appeared to be feeling his way along as if he was looking for a handle or key hole that would allow him access to the other side.

Thor did his best not to pace impatiently while his brother quietly worked. He would be of no help here as he couldn't see what it was that Loki was seeing. There had to be some kind of sealing rune around the outside of the small portal he was sure, but that was all he knew.

In the meantime, he racked his brain, wondering how long the necklace had been blinking and whether or not it even mattered at this point. Someone was set to harm Natasha and his daughter and as if the minute he saw the blinking pendent, their days were numbered.

Killing mortals was something he never deemed as fair because there was no way he could die by their hand, it was almost impossible to entrap him by one of their number either.

He was willing to make an exception this time however. He would have snuck away ages ago if Odin with Heimdall's help hadn't set up that damnable wall around the whole of Asgard.

The rest of him was just trying not to feel guilty. If he had been there, maybe none of this would have happened. If he had just figured out a way to leave earlier to defy his father without him knowing that he was breaking a law…then perhaps Natasha and Hermione wouldn't be in the situation they were in. If he had worn the necklace more often, perhaps he would have noticed when it began blinking and then would have been able to find a way to leave right away. As it was, he didn't know when it had begun emitting light, which also meant that he didn't know how long Hermione and Natasha had been in danger.

_Enough, _the deep practical side of him rumbled. _Lay the blame at the feet of those with which it truly rests. It is no more your blame to carry than it is Natasha's or Hermione's or Odin's. The fault is with those who would make war against your kin._

He took a deep breath and tried to remember those words through the hotheaded rage that was slowly building in his chest and stemming outwards toward his arms and legs and head.

He was about to ask his brother one more time how long it would be until he got the infernal portal open when all of a sudden there was a click and Loki called out: "Success!"

Thor whirled about and just in time saw his brother tap the three in most parts of the wall in quick succession.

All of a sudden, the humming noise in the maze grew louder, almost as if a whirling saw was coming toward them, and Thor looked around tensely to make sure no one had heard.

Appearing before them was what looked to be the small entrance to a tunnel. In the space beyond it, appeared to be a swirling purple galaxy dotted with what appeared to be lavender stars all across the cosmos. They were faint points of light but he knew if he stepped through there, he would be out of Asgard and in the space and galaxy beyond.

Loki gave a smug grin, appearing very pleased with himself. "This is the first time I have been able to pry the door all the way open," he said.

A Midgardian saying came to Thor's mind then. He had heard it used before but this was the first time he had been able to remember it.

_Desperate times call for desperate measures._

_Damn straight, _Natasha would have said.

Thor attached the handle of Mjölnir to his belt and made to bend down to crawl through the portal and out into the space realm.

When they had been searching the maze for this elusive doorway that Loki swore by, Thor asked if Loki was planning on coming as well. The god of lies had replied in the negative as someone needed to stay behind and "cover for him," a phrase he had picked up from some mortal on Midgward.

He explained that since he was the only other one who knew about Hermione, he would be the best person to keep Odin's eyes diverted as he was also the only one who could lie convincingly to the All Father if he asked about Thor's whereabouts.

If the both of them went, it would draw too much attention as both princes would be missing and no one would know how to explain their disappearance.

Thor had accepted it without much of an argument as he was eager to be gone.

Loki seized his arm at the last second. "You will ensure that this venture is swift will you not? I cannot divert Father's eyes for longer than is possible. The All Father sees much and after a time, he will surely know that one has breached the wards around Asgard."

Thor nodded. "There is not much the mortals can do in the way of stopping me. The only difficulty would be to ascertain where Natasha and Hermione are. Circumstances are easily resolved after that."

Loki nodded and clapped his shoulder. "Odin be with you brother."

Thor wished him the same before bending down and crawling through the small doorway. There was a sucking sound suddenly and then an unknown force grabbed him and flung him forward through the door and out into the purple starlight galaxy.

He suddenly gained control of his suspended state and propelled himself forward into his normal rhythm of flight, destined for Earth.

_I certainly hope that Odin does not make his appearance known on this trip, _he thought to himself as he shot through the cosmos. _Else if he does, it will be better if I remain on Midgard for the term of my natural life than to return. _

Ω

Night had fallen before Ivan had gotten the story straight.

Regulus and Petunia had taken him to the scene by the road where he was able to take the sample of Natasha's jacket for evidence and note the tire treads on the dirt road before he called in a friend from his work to make imprints so they could put a trace out on the van.

He was in a bit of a complicated situation because even though he with his past had been cleared for work after serving in the Soviet Union as a soldier, no one at his place of employment knew that Natasha had been part of the Red Room because technically such an agency didn't exist and it would shed unnecessary light on her and that was something that he was unwilling to do. They would have to go about this quietly as much as he hated it.

It had been almost twelve hours since Natasha and his grandchild disappeared and with every one that had passed, Ivan was beginning to feel more and more like one of those parents who waited up with the rest of their family to hear from the police when their child could come home and less and less like the cool Secret Service Agent he was supposed to be.

_I didn't actually realize that this what all those parents go through, _he thought grimly as he stood in the hall of the Black's beach house.

As it was, his hands were pretty much tied. No one at his place of work had a clue about his daughter's past. He had called it in of course, but he did want to keep the lies to a minimum.  
Thankfully he could use the fact that his grandchild had been taken as well to shift the focus from Natasha. When a child was involved it always seemed to make people take notice of it more.

Within twenty minutes of his calling, the beach was swarming with agents. Because a relative of one of their own had been taken, it gave this case priority. Also because Natasha was new to the Secret Service, but part of the cover operatives division, it would make her more of a target for those who wanted to get in one the inside.

No one needed to know about Natasha's past. Ivan had cleared it in her file that she had worked for the government in Russia before settling here to have Hermione.

It was partially true.

And when one of their own was discovered missing under mysterious circumstances, the BSS took it very seriously.

So as the sun was going down, there were plain clothes officers scouring the beach. The whole thing had obviously been closed to the public and there was yellow tape back there for miles.

While the footprints had been washed away, thankfully the specks of blood and tire treads had remained and so there was at least something to go on.

_Now I feel as if I've stepped into a procedural cop show, _Petunia thought absently as she stood at the sliding glass door of the beach house and watched the agents moved up and down the beach. _I hate procedural cop shows, there's like a hundred of them on television and they're all the same!_

"You alright?"

Petunia jumped and whirled around until she saw that it was just her fiancé. He grinned at her when he saw her startled expression. "A little nervous are we?"

She gave a choked laugh. "Yes, I guess just a little. I think part of me didn't want to realize how big and serious this was. It wasn't until we ransacked Emma's house and found Ivan's number that I began to realize just how bad things were."

"Hey," he said wrapping his arms around her waist from behind and drawing her close. "Would you please relax? We're going to find her. Emma's a fighter and she's not going to let anyone hurt her or Hermione."

In her head, Petunia knew that very well, but a small part of her wished that somehow there was a way to get in touch with Dan and let him know what was going on. She just had this feeling that if he were there, he would know what to do to find Emma.

After Ivan had told them about the group Emma had been involved with and how they were part of a secret government agency of special soldiers, Petunia began to wonder just how much she knew about the world.

Never in a million years would she have thought that Emma was part of an underground agency run by the Russian government to bring down the Yanks.

Well…..there was an arms race going on, so maybe it wasn't altogether unbelievable.

But still…..Emma?

Sweet Emma who had helped her get rid of her husband, break Sirius out of jail and face down the wizarding world on trial? That Emma?

_It suddenly makes sense why she's so calm all the time, she's been in life or death and hostage situation before. She must have nerves of steel._

If she was honest with herself, Petunia would know that deep down, nothing had changed. She still wanted to find the bastards that had taken her friend and Hermione as the little girl was innocent in all of this.

Good god, this was turning into a complete night mare!

"I trust Emma," she murmured as she returned Regulus's hug. "What I don't trust are the people who've gone after her and Hermione. We need to find them Reg. Before they do something terrible."

"They've already done something terrible Petunia," Regulus said putting his hands on her shoulders and drawing her back so he could look at her. "They've kidnapped a four year old and if this is some kind of other underground government agency that has an axe to grind with Emma, than they must have taken Hermione as collateral to make her cooperate. Because we both know that there that that is the only way that Emma would even consider backing down from a fight."

"You're not really making me feel better Reg," Petunia said in exasperation.

"There's not really a lot to feel better about with regards to this situation Tuney," Her fiancé said honestly. "Our friend and her daughter is in danger and the sooner we figure out what it is that Emma's hiding in her past, we may be able to figure out, who it was that took her and Hermione and why."

Petunia groaned. "I have a feeling this is going to be a long night."

Ω

Morning came all too soon for Natasha's liking and the minute she opened her eyes, she dashed across the expanse of the room to the stone wall where she could best hear when her daughter was awake.

"Mione?" she called softly, "Are you awake?"

There was a long silence and then she heard the words softly spoken as if through a long tunnel.

"Yes Mummy. I'm sleepy though."

Natasha breathed a sigh of relief and closed her eyes in silent thanksgiving that no one had come in and done something to her daughter over the course of the night.

Stalin's right hand man….Pietro, she was pretty sure it was…..she didn't like the look of him. He was far too shifty eyed and she knew that because it was the same kind of look she had worn when she was still part of the Red Room.

It was the kind of expression that weighed all angles, knew every contingency and looked at all possibilities.

It was an expression that said he was dangerous and someone she either needed to get away from, or kill the first chance she got.

And since it seemed that the first option wasn't available at the moment, she simple had to look for an opportunity to execute the second.

As soon as this thought passed her brain, there came the sound of a key clicking in the lock and the door being rolled back on squeaky hinges.

Natasha stood up with a snap when Pietro and half a dozen other men attired in dark clothes stepped into the doorway.

"I trust you slept well," he said with a small smile, and Natasha had to fight the urge to claw his lips from his face with nothing but her fingernails.

"I expect this isn't room service is it?" she asked raising an eyebrow, still as sardonic as ever.

He's smile widened. "Clearly not a morning person I see. But it matters not, if we are to carry on with the…..hotel theme, then we are late for the days activities."

"Mummy?" Came the small voice of Hermione from the other side of the wall. "What happening?"

The espionage agent fought the urge not to grimace.

"Nothing baby girl," she replied in Russia. "Just keep calm, everything will be fine."

However, something about the smile the bastard gave her was convincing her that everything was indeed, not fine.

He barked something in Polish to one of the men behind him who disappeared to go next door and Natasha stiffened.

"Why are you going for my daughter?" she snapped.

There was the sound of a lock being turned and then a loud click as the metal door of the room rolled back and there was a slight scuffle and a whimper as one of Stalin's goons managed to grab a hold of Hermione, causing ice to go through Natasha's veins.

Pietro, who had known she would be able to understand him, grinned. "Oh just because you're going to be the one actually partaking in the activities doesn't mean she shouldn't get a front row seat. We want to make sure she has some fun too."

Natasha felt herself grow cold at his implication and she leapt forward to get in his face. She had gone no more than a few steps, when suddenly the other men who hadn't been sent to retrieve Hermione leapt forward and seized her by both of her arms.

She knew that wouldn't be a deterrent and obviously Pietro knew it too, for he whistled and Hermione was immediately brought into the room with a gun placed at her back. Her face was tear stained and from the way she was walking she looked like she was in pain if the man's grip on her arm was any indication.

And then Natasha's face went completely expressionless. She allowed the men to pull her forward and just as she came parallel with the man who had a grip on Hermione, she stood on her toes and gave him her most fearsome sneer.

"I don't normally make a personal vendetta," she whispered through her teeth. "But after Stalin, you are the next son of a bitch that's going down."

He sneered at her simply which made the scar on his upper lip grow wider in diameter.

Her eyes still drilling into his, Natasha allowed herself to be led away, stopping only to call out to her daughter. "Go with them Hermione, it'll be alright. Don't panic and don't be afraid. Mummy will take care of these bastards, all in good time."

With that very conspicuous threat, Natasha and her daughter were led away from their cells and out onto the landing that looked over into the interior of the fortress/warehouse.

The fireplace in the middle of the room was out and the two chairs had been moved away. Instead, a glass room of sorts had been set up and there appeared to be several computers within it as well as several white coated men sitting beside those computers.

What Natasha was immediately drawn to however was the fact that just outside of the wall of glass windows was what appeared to be a fully operational dental chair with the armrests and the old fashioned straps on the side that hadn't been seen since the forties when one operated on a patient without an anesthetic.

There were bright klieg lights of the warehouse shining down upon it and Natasha was beginning to feel as if she were in one of those old black and white movies where the mad scientist operated upon his test subject in an abandoned lonely place far from home and turned them into a monster.

The inside of the fortress itself was old and looked nothing like the fortress outside where one could watch to see who was coming from the windows and parapets. Overnight the place had become the lair of a mad scientist and there were even a few medical IV's next to the dentist's chair which was a few feet in front of the wall of glass so there would even be observers for this crazy experiment.

_Oh yeah, _Natasha thought absently, _definitely not the Ritz Carlton._

She and Hermione were roughly pushed down the stairs from the upper landings and before they knew it, they were only the ground floor.

A man in a suit talking to one of scientists, who Natasha had already figured to be Stalin, turned and caught sight of the two arriving and definitely pissed off guests.

"Ah, you have arrived," he said smiling amiably as if he were a greeter at a hotel.

Ironic since Natasha had dubbed this place the Ritz Carlton.

"I believe we can now begin," he said and gestured to Pietro who stepped over to Hermione and shooed the other man away.

"Wait a minute," Natasha demanded. "What is he going to do with my daughter?"

Stalin gave her an easy smile and one that Pietro mirrored. "Don't worry Agent Romanov, he's not taking her anywhere. In fact…..you'll be able to see her the whole time."

With that, Pietro yanked her away with more than necessary vigor and Hermione's cry of pain caused Natasha to start forward before the other dozen of Stalin's goons jumped in front of her, blocking her from even seeing her daughter.

"Ah, ah, ah," he said as if he were talking to a naughty child. "Remember our agreement Romanov, you behave, and your daughter is looked after. You don't and well….you won't like what happens. We may not be able to physically stop you…..but you're not so powerful that you're bullet proof."

With that, Natasha was wrestled unceremoniously into the dentist's chair and strapped down by means of leather belts around her wrists, ankles, forearms, torso and waist.

Man, they didn't pull any punches when it came to restraining her.

"Mummy?" she heard Hermione call, though it sounded muffled as she could see that her daughter was now behind the wall of windows with the other guards, as well as Stalin and the scientists. "What's going on?"

"Don't worry Mione," Natasha replied, trying to make her tone as light as possible in an attempt to minimize the prospect of scaring her daughter. "I'm right here, everything is going to be fine."

Although, she didn't believe that for a second.

Once she had been successfully presented from moving anything but her fingertips and eyelids, the scientists conferred for a meeting around Stalin and she could hear whispered murmurs in Polish.

She caught a few words like, _injection, serum, responding well, running tests_ and so forth. But what the red head was more focused on was her daughter's face which looked more than a little unsure and more than a little scared.

She had to find some way to calm her daughter down before the little girl freaked out completely and got herself hurt.

So when words failed, she didn't talk.

The words from the song she had sung that night and the day before in the van came back to her as plain as day and Natasha Romanov began to sing again.

She could visibly see Hermione relaxing as the melody came through….and then Stalin and the scientists finished up their meeting.

One of them picked up a menacing looking syringe from one of the metal trays next to the dentists and walked toward Natasha with the rest of his colleagues looking curiously blank. Stalin was standing at a distance behind the glass walls and both he and Pietro had taken up guard of Hermione…..which only served to make the little girl even more nervous.

"Gentlemen," Stalin called out. "Today we usher in a brighter future. One where the world's crime is wiped out and humanity is taken out of chaos by someone with complete control. We begin the first of the world's new police force today. Dr. Salvos, if you will," he said inclining his head to the scientists who had the syringe.

The doctor nodded back at him and bent over the metal tray next to the dentist's chair. He picked up a vial that had been sitting there of an electric blue liquid and inserted the needle into the top of it.

Natasha watching with growing anxiety as the liquid in the vial began to filter down into the needle until it was full and then set it aside.

He bent toward Natasha with the large object, and the former agent didn't do him or Stalin or Pietro the satisfaction of closing her eyes.

She had just felt the needle prick her skin…..when something strange happened.

Up until that point, Hermione had been strangely quiet.

She was afraid to be sure, but she could still see her mother and she wasn't alone anymore so that helped. Mummy had said that when she told her to run, she had to run, even if she was by herself. Hermione was afraid…..but she trusted Mummy.

Sometimes during the night though, she awakened and didn't know where she was. The resounding shock of that realization was too much for the little girl, and she began to cry quietly.

And then something miraculous happened. Her hands began to feel itchy, so itchy in fact that she stopped crying and looked down at them curiously.

And that was when she saw the spark.

Little sparks of electricity were jumping across her palm. Some even went as far as to jump from one hand to the next causing the room to flash with light.

Hermione hadn't known what it meant, but she was able to forget about the fears and the fact that she missed Aunt Tuney and Harry and Duddy and Uncle Reg and Riley and Uncle Siri for the next few hours as she played with the sparks on her hands.

They were so pretty and she remembered that Mummy had said something about her and Duddy and Harry having magic about a year ago. Maybe that's what this was.

But she had never made sparks of electricity come out of her hands before and seeing them somehow seemed to tell her that everything was going to be okay.

But when they had woken her in the morning and dragged her and Mummy down here and put her off to the side and forced Mummy into the chair, Hermione felt more scared than she had ever been before.

But more than that, when she saw that strange man lean over her Mummy with a strange looking knife…Hermione felt angry.

You see, because Hermione was half god, her magic was a little different than Harry and Dudley's…..a little more…..mature, if that makes any sense.

Her father Thor…..who she currently didn't know, was the god of lightning and storms, so it only made sense that Hermione had some control over little bits of electricity at this young age.

Now the reason her magic was a little bit more complex than Harry's or Dudley's was the fact that, in a sense, she was her father's child. Thor valued family above everything else and so when someone he cared for was threatened, he became very, very protective.

So Hermione's magic wasn't tied to her emotions like Harry and Dudley's were, it was tied to her instincts. The same instincts that her father had when he was protecting those he loved.

As long as she was with her mother, and Natasha was alright, they hadn't made an entrance.

This was why Hermione's magic and gifts from her father hadn't made an appearance until now. Her mother was the most important individual in the world to her and up until that point, her mother hadn't been threatened.

But the moment she saw the strange man in the white coat leaning over her Mummy with the knife in his hand, that was when Hermione felt threatened. No one was going to hurt her Mummy.

And so she opened her mouth and let out a scream that had almost all the guards in the room dropping their guns and covering their ears in agony, including the scientists as well as the one holding the syringe, who dropped it and splattered the blue liquid all over the floor.

The frequency of her yell was so loud and so high that it shattered the bulbs in the lamps throughout the room and then suddenly a burst of electricity shot from the fuse box and fragmented in mid-air into thin yellow lines of light which separated and blasted into the four scientists standing around her mother.

Pietro and Stalin, who had dropped to their knees, yelling in agony from the high frequency of the little girls screaming, had released their hold on her, leaving the little girl, for the first time since she had been escorted from her cell….completely free.

And Natasha, despite the surprise at seeing what her little girl had done, realized this immediately.

"Run Mione!" she yelled from the chair and though she was scared, Hermione made to do what her mother asked.

Though she didn't run in the direction that Natasha wanted.

Instead of running for the doors, which she should have done and which she never would have made it to anyway, Hermione ran to her mother and began pulling at the straps of the chair to which Natasha was still tied to. "Come on Mummy, we have to go!"

"Mione, what – "

"You said we'd leave together right? Well now we can, come on!"

That was all the encouragement that Natasha needed and she began wrenching the leather manacles off her wrists and arms at a ferocious speed.

But she had no sooner gotten free when they both heard a noise behind them.

"You little brat!"

Pietro had gotten to his feet and cocked his gun and before anyone could stop him, he had locked and fired it.

Right at Hermione.

"NO!"

Natasha lurched forward out of the chair in front of her daughter. The only problem with her motherly instinct to protect her daughter was the fact that her right ankle was still strapped to the chair and as she fell in front of the little girl, she left her right leg exposed.

Which was then a perfect target for the bullet that Pietro had fired from his gun…..

Which crashed right into her calf just below her knee…

Natasha gave a grunt of pain and fell to the ground, already feeling the warm blood soaking through the leg of her jeans. It didn't hurt as much as she had expected, probably because the shock of everything that had happened was still fresh, but the next thing she knew, she was lying face down on the ground, halfway out of the chair and everyone was yelling.

"You imbecile!" Stalin roared, wrenching the gun from Pietro's hand. "The girl is our insurance, if you kill her, there is nothing restraining Romanov!"

"Mummy!" Hermione hurried to Natasha's side, finally able to move again as she had been frozen in shock.

"Mione, you need to get out of here!" Natasha hissed as she tried to haul herself to a sitting position, but that was all they had time before because the scientists and guards that Hermione had stunned with her burst of magic were suddenly coming around.

Natasha, even though she was bleeding, with a great effort, yanked herself to her knees, even though her bleeding leg was still caught between the straps of the chair.

Her effort was too late however because before she could get to her daughter, one of the scientists snatched her from behind and pressed a cloth to her mouth and nose.

Hermione stiffened and struggled for a second before her eyes rolled back in her head and she went limp in his arms.

"Hermione!" Natasha screamed and tore the brace off of her remaining leg, ignoring the fact that she was bleeding and that that gunshot had most likely shattered part of the bone. She struggled to her feet and was about to start toward her now drugged and immobile daughter when the click of a gun stopped her.

Man, those Weavers moved fast.

"Careful Romanov," Stalin said quietly and she looked up to see his gun levelled at her daughter and a calculating expression on his face. He had strode forward ahead of everyone else and was pointing the locked and loaded weapon at the little strawberry blonde who was now unconscious in the scientists arms, immobilized by the drug.

"We've immobilized her, and therefore you. Think carefully about what you want to do next. Killing her wouldn't be in both of our interests, you and I know that. So sit down, and let the scientists bind your leg before you bleed out and lose consciousness and all of this will be for naught."

Natasha glared at him and then turned her eyes on her daughter who was as limp as a ragdoll in the arms of the scientist. He didn't appear to have the same amount of guts that the rest of the Weavers did and cowered when she turned her ferocious gaze on him.

Good, that face would be all the more satisfying when she broke his neck.

"And my daughter?" she said through gritted teeth?"

"She will be taken back to the cell and made to rest. She may have a bit of a head ache when she wakes up, but that will be all. And she will not be harmed. Pietro is merely a little…..overzealous. You have my word."

"Your word means jack shit to me," Natasha snarled. "But it would seem you've removed my options…..again. But if I see one hair on my daughter's head touch…..all bets are off. Hell, they were off the minute this bastard approached me on the beach," she said gesturing to Pietro who stiffened very slightly.

She knew that she was stuck between a rock and a hard place. The only guarantee she had was that they wouldn't hurt Hermione. They both knew it was all a bluff in order to get Natasha to agree to help them. They wouldn't kill her because her daughter was the only insurance they had that she wouldn't kill them all.

Yet.

And so it was with an extreme amount of reluctance that Natasha sat back in the chair so they could bind her wounded leg which was screaming in pain and now causing her to become slightly dizzy.

She watched with practiced and narrowed eyes as the scientist who was still carrying her daughter and the soldier who still had the gun trained on her, made their way to the stairs back up to the cells.

He glanced back at her once and smirked when he saw where her eyes were before not looking back again.

They were teasing her, and she knew it. They knew that she knew that they wouldn't lay a hand on Hermione, but they were waving that gun in her face always leaving the threat on the table that they may.

_It will be the last threat they will ever make…..I will make sure of it. _

Ω

It was getting on into the night of the second day since Hermione and Emma had disappeared when Regulus shut the door on the boy's bedroom. He slowly walked down the hall to check on Petunia in her room who had gone to lie down.

Poor thing, she had been so stressed out with the disappearance of Emma and Hermione that she had made herself sick and had to lie down.  
He couldn't blame her. This was getting hard on them all.  
The officers hadn't left until midnight the following night with Ivan who had urged them all to get some sleep as he may be back the next day with more questions.

Regulus could hardly wait.

He felt almost ready to drop himself having gotten next to no sleep from the night before. He and Sirius had put the boys to bed and had to carefully answer their questions about when Mione and Aunt Emma were going to come back.

He couldn't tell them that he didn't know where they were and so he didn't know when they would be back and neither could Sirius, but the younger Black could tell that his older brother was just as worried as he was.

This was turning in a nightmare.

Regulus had been in bad situations before, with the Dark Lord and all. He had had to look at the Dark Mark on his arm which would remind him every day. Sure he had never killed anyone, and had almost died trying to destroy one of Riddle's Horcruxes, but he had still been a Death Eater, had still wanted to join.

Petunia knew all of this of course, he had told her everything before he asked her to marry him.

But now the timing of the wedding was being put off because Emma and Hermione had been abducted and he had no idea where to look.

Despite the fact that he had been a Death Eater, Regulus had always been very family oriented and it had broken his heart when his brother had turned his back on them and walked away from the family.

Now that Orion and Walburga and most of the people he had known from school were either dead or in prison, Regulus had decided that he didn't need a family anymore.

But then Emma and Petunia and the three kids had come into his life. They had essentially saved him, gotten him back on his feet, helped get his brother out of prison and he would never be able to repay them for that.

It hadn't mattered to him that Petunia was a Muggle like it would have in the past. Life was too short to be concerned about things like blood and he was about to be a father to two wonderful little boys. He couldn't have asked for anything more perfect.

But then Emma, who he was rapidly beginning to see as a sister and Hermione as a niece were taken and were having Merlin knew what done to them and that perfect reality had cracked just a bit.

Regulus wasn't going to let anything take away the new family he had….because as unconventional as he and Siri and Tuney and Emma and Dudley and Harry and Hermione and the dog were, they were a still a family.

And they had been separated by some pretty tough bastards.

With a sigh, Regulus walked down the stairs and into the living room with the glass windows overlooking the beach. Riley was lying down by the coffee table and Sirius was sitting on the other end of the couch staring absently out into the waves.

Riley looked up with a whine and walked over to where Regulus sat down, sitting at his feet.

The younger Black petted the dog absently as he knew that the large animal knew that something was missing too.

"I know boy," he murmured to the husky. "Don't worry, we're going to find them."

Now if he could just believe it himself.

"Is everybody out?" Sirius asked turning around and Regulus nodded.

"Petunia's a wreck and the boys are too young to understand what's going on. I think everyone needs to get some sleep."

Sirius's eyes were full of sympathy. "And how are you holding up?"

That was the question of the hour.

Regulus sighed and ran a hand over his face. He had forgotten to shave that morning and was still sporting the half day beard from the day before. "How do you think? I feel like half my family's been torn apart again and there's nothing I can do to fix it."

Sirius very visibly winced at the word "again" and he cleared his throat. "Listen…there was something I wanted to ask you."

Regulus had a feeling he knew what it was about.

"About what you said yesterday when we were using the blood magic to see if the blood we found on the beach was Hermione's…..it….it seemed like you hadn't forgiven me for what happened. Is that true?"

Regulus sighed again. "Siri it was a long time ago. What's the use in dredging up the past now?"

"Because it's important to me," Sirius said, sitting forward on the couch and looking at his little brother earnestly. "I need to know if there's a part of you that still feels that way. Are you still angry with me for leaving when we were in school?"

Regulus was quiet for a long while and then finally, he turned to his older brother and said the words he had been longing to say since Siri had walked out decades before.

"Yes, I am angry. You left me behind. I know our family wasn't perfect – "

"Wasn't perfect? Reg, the lot of them were Death Eater!"

"Would you please for once in your life stop talking and listen to someone else for a change?" Regulus snapped. "You asked for an answer, and I'm giving it to you!"

Sirius blinked, a little taken aback by the force in his younger brother's tone, but he took a deep breath and gestured for him to continue.

"As I was saying," Regulus went on once he had gotten his anger under control. "I know our family wasn't perfect, but there was still me. I was your younger brother and you left me behind for James Potter. Wasn't I worth staying for? And what about that promise you made me when we were kids before we started at Hogwarts and this whole mess started? You told me that no matter what happened when we went to school that you would always look out for me no matter what…you broke your promise."

Sirius looked floored. "Reg, I – "

"No let me finish. I kept all of this in for over a decade," Regulus said holding up his hand. "I hated you for leaving Siri. I hated you. If you'd stayed maybe things would have been different. Hell if you'd taken me with you, maybe things would have been different. I'm not blaming you for the fact that I joined the Death Eaters, that's my demon to face, and I need to make my peace with it. But it would have been nice if I hadn't have had to face it alone. Like I said, I bear full responsibility for the blame of what I did and I still do, but I just wish we could have stayed together. You were the only one I felt I could still trust."

He slumped back on the couch having said his piece and Sirius looked speechless.

He had never expected Regulus to say something like that and instantly the guilt welled up inside of him. He remembered that day that he told Regulus he'd always look after him as plain as day. They had been sitting on the swing in the backyard of Number 12 when he had looked little Regulus in the eye and said it.

And now here they were, almost two decades later.

"You're right."

Regulus looked up at his older brother in shock. "I beg your pardon?"

Sirius sat forward on the couch and folded his hands together, staring down at them. "I said you're right. I did break my promise. I told you I'd look out for you and then I turned around and left when we were teenagers. I know we had out issues with our parents, but that was still no excuse. I broke the trust you had in me. And I'm sorry. I'm sorry Reg, I shouldn't have done that."

Regulus was shocked to hear how thick his brother's voice sounded at the end of the speech. Sirius had never gotten emotional before.

"It's okay Siri," he said calmly. "I forgave you a long time ago. Being in a coma for four years…..it makes you look at things differently. And I need to apologize to you too. I wasn't always there for you when I should have been. Mum and Dad were constantly against you and the least I could have done is stick up for you from time to time."

Sirius smiled at him. "It's okay Reg. I got over how mad I was at you for doing what you did years ago too. But now everything's screwed up again. Emma and Hermione have gone missing and I just wish that there was something to bring this family back together. Something to point us in the direction of – "

He broke off in mid-sentence and Regulus frowned at him. "Siri? Are you alright?"

"Something to point us in their direction," Sirius whispered, forgetting that his younger brother was even there.

All of a sudden he jumped to his feet and cursed. "Reg, I know how we can find Hermione and Emma!"

Regulus shot to his feet. "What? How?"

"There was something that Charlus Potter taught me when I was living with them. It was called the Point Me Charm and it enabled the person who cast it, if they were lost or looking for something, to point them in the direction that it was. We can use it to find Emma and Hermione. It'll tell us what direction there in, almost like a compass!"

Regulus stared at him in shock. "And it'll narrow their location in so we can find them. Siri, you're a genius!"

The older Black grinned at him. "You're just figuring that out now. Come on, where's the felly-tone so we can call Ivan?"

Regulus raised an eyebrow. "Siri you….you know it's called the telephone right?"

"Whatever, come on pick it up and call him. We have a lead finally!"

Not needing anymore prompting, Regulus dashed for the phone that was hanging on the wall and punched in the number Ivan had given them before leaving.

Emma's father picked up on the first ring. "Hello, this is Ivan Bezukhov speaking."

"Ivan? This is Regulus Black. Listen you might want to get over here. Sirius and I have found a lead on how we can find Emma."

Ω

It was another miserable night for both Emma and Hermione.

Natasha was in pain from the newly mended gunshot wound in her leg and Hermione had a headache from when the scientist had drugged her with chloroform.

Her inaction when it came to getting her daughter out of here was grating on Natasha's nerves. There had to have been something, anything she could do to make sure that

Hermione was taken away from this place and kept safe.

Well…..there was one way to ensure that, but that mean was taking his sweet time in showing up.

_Thor you are a right bastard! _Natasha thought to herself, cursing both him and the pain in her leg. _How many other things do they have to try and do to us before you get your ass down here? I got exceedingly lucky today. Thankfully Hermione's accidental magic kicked in before they were able to inject me with their voodoo juice, but what happens tomorrow?_

And that was something else she had been thinking about since she had sung Hermione to sleep once more.

She had thought her ear drums would burst when Hermione screamed as loudly as she did. And then a shaft of electricity had leapt from the half a dozen lamps in the rooms and struck the six scientists hovering around her. She didn't know how much voltage was in the current in this place, but it had been enough to render them useless for a few minutes.

_That was no burst of accidental magic, _she pondered to herself as she lay on the cot and tried to keep her mind off the pain in her leg. _That was straight from her father plain and simple. He had said she would be powerful, but I didn't know exactly how much._

It was true, Hermione's demonstration today had shocked her. And what was more, she hadn't seemed concerned about herself at all. It had all been for Natasha.

The red head wasn't sure whether to be touched by her daughter's protective streak or terrified that such a personality trait would place her in danger.

But there wasn't much time for her to contemplate it because the next thing she knew, morning had come again.

This time, only she was taken from her cell.

Little did she know, that Stalin was thinking that whatever happened the day before was worth looking into. He was wondering if there was some way that her genetic makeup had been altered like her mother's to give her superhuman abilities.

But that was a thought they had time to look into.

When Natasha, now shackled, reached the bottom of the stairs into the warehouse once more, she realized with shock that there were over one hundred armed guards on the premises now surrounding her and impeding her view of the door and an escape.

Yesterday there had only been twenty four.

_Stalin must be realizing that I'm more of a threat than he thought, _she pondered to herself. _That's good. If he knows what he's up against, it may make him more hesitant to try anything._

"Why all the security?" she asked as she was lead to the dentist's chair. "Surely I'm not that intimidating am I?"

"All in the protocol Agent Romanov," he said. "All in the protocol."

He glanced up at Salvos. "Doctor, I trust that we won't have a repeat of what happened yesterday. That serum took months to assemble and the shedding of much blood. I am sure you will not make a mistake like dropping it as you did yesterday because you were startled by the screams of a harmless little girl hmm?"

The scientist shuddered but shook his head quickly and Natasha almost felt sorry for him.

Almost.

She was strapped to the chair once more like some sort of lab rat and was just beginning to gear herself up for a day of poking and prodding as well as hoping that whatever they put in those needles wouldn't do anything to her system when all of a sudden, a second strange thing began to happen.

The lamps which were hanging from the warehouse ceiling flickered and began to vibrate. It was almost as if an enormous truck was driving up close to the building because the vibrations and humming continued until the whole stone place was shaking.

Salvos looked up fearfully and then glanced at Stalin who looked on impatiently. "We are experiencing a lot of wind today Doctor, perhaps a storm is coming. Please continue."

Interesting choice of words.

The thought had no sooner crossed Natasha's brain when all of a sudden, there was an enormous tearing sound and a third of the roof was torn away as if a gigantic pair of claws had reached down from the sky and torn the roof in two.

Suddenly the air was filled with the scent of a coming rain and the heady smell of ozone stabbed through Natasha's senses like a knife.

She remembered that scent.

It had been two years since she had smelled it, but she remembered it all the same.

A shaft of white hot light tore from the sky and the two dozen guards that had been standing beneath the section of torn roof were immediately shocked with a thousand volts of electricity and burned to ash where they stood.

The scientists were first to start the chaos.

They dropped everything and ran yelling for the back doors of the warehouse.

Stalin fired his gun into the air to try and get some semblance of order but it was useless. The guards had locked and loaded their guns and were firing into the sky and something they couldn't see.

But it was Natasha who first spotted him.

Another shaft of pure lightning stabbed out of the sky and electrocuted a few more of the guards before a form crashed out of the air and landed on the ground with the unerring precision of someone who had done this many times before.

When he glanced up, Natasha saw a tall blonde step forth from the light, wearing strange armor and a red cloak upon his back that just brushed the floor. His golden hair was tied back from his shoulders and his hammer was gripped in his hands. His blue eyes were downright ferocious as he looked around and it struck Natasha that she was seeing the god for the first time with all of his power about him.

But there wasn't time to contemplate that now.

As soon as she saw him, two words entered Natasha's head.

_Game Time._

Thankfully, she had only been partially restrained before they had been interrupted by the entrance of a god.

Natasha leaned down and tore of a chunk of the leather strap on her arm with her teeth and spit it out roughly before wrenching her arm free from the arm rest and freeing the other one.

Thor had gone to work, taking out soldiers left and right who never really stood a chance against him.

Natasha knew he had seen her, and was glad he didn't feel the need to come to her directly because he knew she could free herself. She kicked off the last of the manacles and jumped down, tripping one of the guards as he ran past and snatching the gun he had in hand from him as he fell.

In the back cut of the same motion, she brought the butt of it down on his head and knocked him out instantly.

Suddenly eager for vengeance, she turned to join the fight.

Ω

Hermione heard the noise downstairs and wondered what on earth it was as she sat in the corner of the stone room. It sounded like thunder but she couldn't be sure.

It was only when she heard screaming, that she thought of her Mummy being hurt and turned to run to the door to find Mummy and see if she was alright.

Unfortunately, she was only a few steps from the door when it swung open to reveal the scary man from earlier. Pietro….the one her Mummy hated.

She was a little scared upon seeing him, but she wasn't going to let him hurt her or her Mummy.

He advanced into the room and leered at her.

"Come here you little brat! We may have lost Romanov, but you're going to be out ticket out of here. You were the prize anyway!"

He lunged at her, but didn't expect her to be as quick as he was and at this point, Hermione was done being scared.

She turned and when he lunged at her again, she brought her little leg up and kicked him as hard as she could in the shins.

It must have been a pretty good kick because he doubled over in pain, and she scratched his face with all her might, causing him to scream when she drew blood.

"You little bitch!"

But Hermione dodged out of his way again and dashed out the open door of the stone cell, intent on finding her Mummy.

Ω

Truthfully, Natasha had her hands full at the moment.

She was stripping weapons from the dead soldiers left and right. Apparently Stalin had a bunch on standby because a horn had sounded a few minutes earlier and the back doors of the warehouse had opened and at least another hundred more had poured in.

Needless to say, she was going to be sore later that evening, fighting on an injured leg and all.

But just as she had taken down what was probably the twelfth of another dozen, a sound screeched out across the warehouse which made her blood turn to ice.

"Mummy!"

The read head looked up to see her little girl dashing out the cell door with Pietro hot on her heels from a few floors above.

Fast as she was, Hermione still had short legs and the bastard was gaining on her.

Natasha didn't even think, she levelled her pistol at the son of a bitch who was chasing her daughter and fired.

Direct hit.

Blood hit the wall just behind Hermione and the little girl screamed and ran faster down the stairs.

When she reached the bottom, her mother was there to meet her and she practically threw herself into Natasha's arms.

"Mummy where were you? I couldn't find you! Are you okay?"

Natasha closed her eyes briefly, trying to get a grip on her emotions. Hermione was here, she was safe. Her father was here. They were going to be okay.

"I'm fine sweetheart," she said. "But I need you to do something for me. Do you see that empty barrel over there?"

The piece of furniture was off to the side of the warehouse and she had noticed it when she had come down earlier.

Hermione nodded.

"Good, I want you to go and hide there and don't come out until I call for you. Okay?"

"But….but I want to stay with you," Hermione protested, her big blue green eyes filling with tears.

Natasha took a deep breath. "Honey, I'd like nothing better than for you to stay with me, but I need you to be safe, and the only way for you to be safe is to go and hide in that barrel. I promise, I will come for you. Okay?"

Every second increased the danger. Thor was still fighting like a mad man and Natasha was itching to join him the second she got Hermione to safety.

Finally the little girl nodded, hurried off and climbed into the barrel.

The minute she was out of sight, Natasha turned back into the main fight. She had forty eight hours of vengeance and pent up range to rain down on these bastards for hurting her daughter.

In the next fifteen minutes, she fought hard her than she had ever fought before.

If you or I had been watching her, you might have said she looked a bit like an animal with the feral snarl upon her lips as she took down guards left and right.

Finally, only one remained and Natasha clocked him on the head with the butt of the gun she was still holding.

Her breath came in deep gasps after that and sweat dripped down her forehead as she realized with a thrill of relief that it was over.

Finally over…

"Natasha?" said a deep voice to her left.

She whirled around and found the god standing next to her, his handsome face twisted with concern. He looked so good, it almost physically hurt to look at him. There were ashes in his hair from the fallen roof and there was a cut on his forehead that was in the process of healing, but she almost had a hard time meeting his eyes.

Whether she was angry with him, or just so relieved to see him that she couldn't talk, she didn't know.

"You can put the gun down now," he said softly.

Her hand on the weapon was shaking slightly from the stress of the past two days, trying to keep it together, to make sure Hermione wasn't hurt, trying to keep up the hope of getting to escape….it had all culminated in a crescendo of rage and now that it was over…she felt as if she were about to pass out or burst into tears, or both.

Thankfully, she managed to do neither.

"Natasha," Thor said quietly again. "Please give me the gun. It's alright, there's no one left to fight anymore. It's over."

And with those words, it was like the floodgates had opened.

Natasha dropped the gun and turned to him and he must have read the look on her face because he pulled her roughly into his arms and just held her tight against him.

"Where were you?" she whispered too numb and in shock to even cry.

"I'm sorry," he whispered hoarsely over and over. "I'm so sorry. I'll never do that again. I don't care what laws my father erects, I'll never leave you or Hermione for so long again."

And like that, it was as if nothing had ever changed. Natasha began to feel somewhat right again…..as if his being there, just holding her as he had done before in the past when he had come to see her…..was making things slowly better.

She knew she would probably crash the minute she got home because she was exhausted, sweaty, her clothes were torn and she was sure that the bandage wrapped around her leg from the wound yesterday had torn open and might be bleeding again.

But all of that could wait for now.

"Mummy?"

Natasha jerked back as if she had been shocked and whirled out of the blonde's embrace to see a little strawberry blonde who had crawled out of the barrel and was standing on the edge of the room, looking in with wide eyes.

Natasha bent down and opened her arms. "Its okay sweetheart, we're safe. You don't need to hide anymore, its okay, come here."

Something in Hermione's eyes changed then for the fear disappeared and she ran forward and dove into her mother's arms.

Natasha buried her face in Hermione's hair, drinking in her presence and the fact that she was okay, speechless with relief.

A few minutes passed and once Hermione seemed to get it through her head that Mumm was alright, she caught sight of the blonde behind her and her eyes widened.

He was watching her with deep blue eyes that looked like they were full of sadness and she wondered for a moment why.

"Mummy?" she asked in a hushed voice. "Who's this?"

Natasha wiped her eyes, stood up and kept a hold on her daughter's hand. She looked at Thor carefully and gave him a half smile before looking down at the little girl and kneeling once more.

"Hermione, I know we've never really talked about this, and this will probably come as a shock to you…but I think it's time that I properly introduce you…to your father."

Ω

**Sorry for the formatting error guys, it took me a while, but I managed to fix it. I hope you enjoy the chapter. I'm ready for the hate comments about the cliffhanger, bring them on, I'm ready for them lol. Be sure to review and enjoy!**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19

Hermione stared at her mother as if she had just spoken gibberish.  
It couldn't be possible….it just couldn't!

Her Mummy had never told her anything about her Daddy even though many times Hermione had wanted to ask.

She had often felt a little upset that Harry and Duddy had Uncle Reg for their daddy and she and Mummy had nobody.

The closest thing the little girl had to a male figure in her life was Ivan, her grandfather. And even then he only came to see them once a month.

This man couldn't be her Daddy.

He was taller than Mummy and had blue eyes the color of the ocean…..no more like the color of the sky, she decided. His hair was spun like gold and he seemed as powerful as the thunder that was crackling over their heads from the torn out roof right now.

Hermione glanced up at her mother who was looking deadly serious, to insist that it was some sort of joke.  
But one thing she knew about her Mummy was that she had never lied to her.

Never.

"But….but…..but I," she stammered and then before she could think of what to say next, Thor took over.

He got down one knee so he was eye level with her and looked her squarely in the face.  
"It's true little one," he whispered and even his voice sounded like thunder, fierce and powerful. "I'm your father. And I'm so sorry I haven't met you before now."

Hermione stared at him in shock.

If this was true, he didn't look a thing like what she thought a Daddy would look like. She thought her Daddy would look like Uncle Reg, tall with black hair and dark eyes and he would like to throw her and Harry and Duddy up into the air and play with them.

He didn't look like…..like…._this._

He looked like a superhero from the Saturday morning cartoons that sometimes watched at Aunt Tuney's with Harry and Duddy.

They would often giggle about which hero was their favorite and often play them sometimes.

But Hermione wasn't even sure what to think at this point.

She looked at him carefully, trying to discern whether any of this was a lie. Something she had always been very good at was rooting out the truth. Something her Mummy had never told her was anything but the truth. So Hermione knew what the truth looked like, and if she saw the opposite, then she would know that it was a lie.

But there was none of the here.

Every word that the golden haired man said was true.

And so Hermione did something that neither Thor nor Natasha were expecting.

She dropped her arms that were wrapped around herself as if cold and ran the last few steps between herself and Thor before throwing herself into his arms.

Thor stiffened for all of two seconds, but then his own restraint broke and he wrapped her up tight in his arms, the clear intention of never letting her go again.

There had been so many times on Asgard when he thought he would go insane if he didn't see her and her mother again and now that it was finally happening, he could hardly believe it.

She was here…..in his arms…..and she was safe.

Hermione closed her eyes and was amazed at how safe she felt in his arms. She was beginning to buy the fact that this was her father.

But there were still a few things she needed to check out first.

Natasha pressed her fist to her mouth and took a few deep breaths.

She had been cursing Thor for the past two years about whether or not he was going to come back so he could see his daughter and finally, maybe they could have some semblance of normalcy.

But now it occurred to her that there was no way in hell that they were ever going to be normal. And maybe it was time she accepted that.

He was a god, she was an espionage agent, and their daughter was a witch.

Hardly the concoction that made up the recipe of conventional.

She smiled slightly as she watched her daughter and her father together.

Finally…

After a long time, Hermione pulled back so she could look the god in the eye when she asked her questions.

"But wait," she said slowly. "If you're my Daddy, why weren't you here? Why weren't you with me and Mummy?"

Thor closed his eyes very briefly as if in pain. She had a way of cutting right to the heart of a problem, just like her mother.

When he had seen her standing on the edge of the room, her clothes torn and little cheeks smudged with dirt and tears, he had barely been able to restrain himself. He had wanted to wrap her in his arms and never let her go, and even her pressing back so she could look at him had been slightly difficult.

But somehow, he managed to hold back until Natasha ensured she was alright.

Odin, she looked just like her mother.

But he could also see small pieces of himself in her…..the strawberry blonde curls…..the eyes that were a bit bluer than green, the way she folded her arms across her chest when she was trying to figure something out as she was doing now.

It was like a lance to his chest, realizing how much he had missed out on.

"I couldn't," he said softly, completely aware of the fact that Natasha stiffened. He glanced up at her briefly and saw that her jade green eyes were boring a hole in his head for their intensity. He knew he would have to explain later.

"Why couldn't you come?" Hermione asked.

Her manner almost made him want to laugh as she sounded defensive, just like Natasha.

"Someone stopped me," he said trying to put this in words that she would understand.

Unfortunately, Natasha got his meaning all too well, and from the air she hissed out between her teeth, she knew exactly what had stopped him.

"Mione," she said, interrupting before their daughter could ask any more questions. "We need to get out of here and get home. You're exhausted and you need to take a bath and get some sleep."

"And you're wounded," Thor observed. "I should think that the same method applies."

He had noticed the wound in her calf and while she healed fast, he knew she didn't heal as fast as he did.

She glanced down at her leg and grimaced. The adrenaline of the fight had kept her from feeling any of the pain and now that her heart rate was going back to normal, the returning searing in her leg was even more acute.

But more than that was the reality that the fight was over, but that there was someone that she hadn't seen amongst it.

Stalin.  
"Mummy, you're bleeding!" Hermione exclaimed. "What did they do?"

Natasha shook her head, trying to calm her daughter's fears.

"It's okay Mione, I'm going to be fine. It's only a flesh wound. You're father and I just need to get you home and then we'll deal with it. Everything going to be alright. Okay?"

Thor meanwhile was eyeing her carefully and she could tell he was reading what was in her mind rather than what was on her face.

She hated when he did that.

Two years without seeing him and it was still something he was able to do as plain as day.

He slowly got to his feet, still holding on to Hermione's hand. "Natasha? What's wrong?"

She looked around quickly and then sighed before leaning in closer to him. "Stalin, the man who was behind the abduction of me and Hermione….he's not here."

His blue eyes narrowed at her dangerously. "What do you mean?"

"I expected him to be among the bodies," she whispered back fiercely. "But he's not here, he must have escaped."

He nodded swiftly. "Let me take you and Hermione home and then I will come back and see if I can find him."

She gave her assent and then bent down to see about her daughter.

"Hermione, your father's going to take us home now. But we're not taking the car like we did when we came here."

Hermione frowned. "How are we getting home then?"

Thor smirked and bent down before picking her up in his arms. "How else? By magic."

Ω

Natasha had never been so glad to see the inside of her house in her entire life.

It had only been seventy two hours but she decided she didn't want to leave it for at least a week.  
Hermione had been in awe of her father's magic when he brought them home and landed in the backyard. The only thing Natasha wasn't pleased with was the ten foot wide rune he left in the soil.

She made a mental note to banish that later and followed the blonde who was still holding Hermione into the house.

After shutting the sliding glass doors behind them because the air was still a little nippy for April, Natasha turned to Hermione's father.

"How far do you think Stalin would have gotten?" she asked.

"Not far. Unless he is a magic user like you, there are only the option of his legs, or a car. Did you happen to see a boat while you were there?"

Natasha wracked her brain, thinking. "The only time I was outside was when we first got there. There may be one but I wouldn't know because I didn't see anything."

He gave a sharp nod. "I'll be back soon."

To her surprise, he leaned down and kissed Hermione's forehead before doing the same with her and trooping back out to the backyard.

Natasha stepped forward just in time to see him vanish in a flash of light and she took a deep breath, just to remind herself that he would be back.

"Mummy?" Hermione asked from her place on the bar stool of the kitchen. "Where did Daddy go? Is he coming back?"

"Don't worry Mione," the red head replied as she shut and locked the glass door once more before wedging one of the kitchen doors underneath the handle. "He'll be back."

_He better make freaking sure of it. I'm still pissed off at his disappearing missing in action ass!_

"Come on," she said to her daughter, holding out a hand for the little strawberry blonde to take. "We need to get you cleaned up before Daddy comes back. It won't be long until he returns."

When she was giving Hermione her bath and cleaning her up, Natasha turned herself on auto pilot. Mostly because she was so exhausted, but also because of everything that had happened. Her leg was still killing her and she needed to see to that as soon as Hermione was taken care of.

Once Hermione had been washed and given dry clothes and Natasha combed out her daughter's hair which was going to be somewhat bushy in the morning, Hermione was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.

Natasha knew that the little girl wanted to stay up for her father to come back, but she was just too exhausted. So Natasha laid her little girl down on the couch in the living room and covered her over with a blanket so she would be warm.

Then and only then, did she hurry to the medicine cabinet to find some solvent to clean out and mend her wounded leg.

The bullet that Pietro had shot had been fired at close range and thankfully wasn't the kind of break apart as soon as it met with flesh.

The scientists had very roughly taken it out and flushed it with solvent which had hurt like a bitch, but she had refused to scream.

After that, they had simply bound it because thankfully by that time, the bleeding had stopped.

_Bunch of hypocritical bastards, _Natasha grumbled to herself. _They talked until kingdom come about how I was not to be harmed because I was their "test subject" and they didn't even have the decency to stitch the wound closed!_

After cleaning out her wound again, she re-wrapped it and then limped to put a pot on the stove so she could sterilize the sewing needle and stitch the wound shut herself.

She had just succeeded in dropping the needle in the water when she heard a knock on the back door.

Even though she was pretty sure that it was Thor, Natasha picked up one of the long steak knives from the cutlery drawer and carefully limped to the living room doorway before sweeping aside the curtains with a flourish.

She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw Thor still standing there. He raised an eyebrow when he saw the knife in her hand she restrained herself from rolling her eyes at how ridiculous she must have looked.

She let him in, and tried not to notice when that insufferable smirk came over his face.  
"I sincerely doubt that a simple kitchen knife is going to do much to stop me," he drawled as he came in and shut the door behind him.  
Natasha sighed and put the knife down.

"Enough of that," she said. "What did you find?"

A storm cloud came over Thor's face. "By the time I returned, he had gone. I did however discover that there appears to be a submarine hanger in the basement of the warehouse. One of them was missing. It would appear that he has vanished and taken what remains of the scientists with him."

Natasha growled out a curse in Russian. "That bastard needs to be caught and hanged! I should call Ivan as soon as possible and – "

She broke off in shock. "Ivan! What if Petunia and Regulus got in touch with Ivan? They must be going crazy wondering what happened to us. I should call them right away – "

Again she was stopped when suddenly Thor was in front of her, hands at her waist. "First you need to see to that injured leg of yours and second, you need to change into fresh garments, eat and get some sleep."

She glared at him.

"Well then if I do, you are going to sit on the couch with your daughter and keep an eye on her until I get back…..and then we have to talk."

These words she said somewhat reluctantly and the blonde knew right away that he had a lot of explaining to do.

Namely why he had been non-existent in their lives the past two years.

But he decided that there would be a time coming when he could explain that. And so he walked carefully into the living room, set his hammer down on the coffee table next to the couch and sat down next to his daughter.

Although he first exchanged the armor for human clothes with a wave of his hand.

Upon sitting down on the couch, he carefully drew Hermione into his lap and gave a sharp intake of breath in surprise when she curled into his chest like a doll.

The feelings that coursed through him at that point were not easy to describe. The last time he had held his daughter in his arms was when she was two years old.

She had been so small then, so helpless and he had been terrified he would drop her or break her.

She had smiled up at him and even though he was a god and one of the most powerful beings in existence, he had felt so small in that moment, even though there were very few things that controlled him, he realized the one that would always hold his heart…..was this little girl.

He was still figuring out how her mother fit into the picture.

When he had landed in the warehouse and saw her strapped to that chair with the scientists leaning over her with enormous syringes, an unholy rage such as he had never felt had come over him and the bloodlust that came then was nigh on insatiable.

When he saw her tear off her bindings and join the fight, he had been fiercely relieved.

And when he had finally been able to embrace her much as he wanted to after a two year absenteeism…..it felt like nothing had changed.

He was sure that Natasha would have a few choice words for him though. And he knew he deserved it. There really was no excuse as to why he had been away for so long.

But for right now, he was going to forget all of that and just focus on the fact that he was here and Natasha and his daughter were safe.

He could dwell on how much he had missed out on later.

She hadn't even recognized him at first.

He couldn't blame her, the last time she had seen him, she was two years old and was just beginning to talk. Two years was a long time in the life of a child and much about her would change in that period.

The sound of footsteps in the doorway caught his attention and he looked up to find Natasha standing in the doorway toweling off her hair. She had changed into a tank top and comfortable looking yoga pants.

"You still need to mend that leg of yours," he said softly and she nodded.

"It shouldn't take long."

He gently set Hermione to the side, deciding to focus on the red head for the time being.

She set the pot down on a heating pad in the living room and he gestured for her to sit down and put her leg up.

She folded her arms across her chest and frowned at him. "I'm perfectly capable of stitching my own wound."

He mirrored her stance. "I do recall we had a conversation about this. It's not a matter of capability, it's simply a matter of not having to."

She sat down slowly and put her injured leg on the coffee table, rolling the hemline of her pants up to her knee, and eyed him

"I do recall that conversation that we had. I also recall that we had it about two years ago."

Thor pursed his lips as he bent down and took the hot needle out of the water. He had known this was coming.

"You're angry with me," he said simply.

Those words seemed to do it.

"You're damn right I'm angry with you!" she exploded, flicking her eyes toward Hermione so she wouldn't wake, and then she grimaced and lowered her voice.

"It has been _two years _Thor. And nothing. I haven't received any type of message or sign from above telling me when you are coming back to see your daughter. I hate to sound like a complete domestic because I'm not, I have a job too, but this was important. And she had no clue about who you were! None whatsoever. I didn't want to have to explain to our daughter why her father is never around. I only have the one picture of you and she's never seen it. This is your daughter, and she should take ultimate precedence!"

The handsome blonde remained quiet until it appeared she was finished and then slowly threaded the needle and began to stitch the wound on her leg closed.

She didn't flinch but he could tell from the small intakes of breath that it did hurt some.

"Might I speak now?" he asked quietly.

She nodded. "But don't give me any of the being a god bullshit. I need to understand why Hermione was without her father for two years."

Most definitely, Hermione was just like her mother.

"You're right," he said, his hand completely steady with the needle. "I have no excuse. I let both her and you down and I will never be able to make up for that. I am so sorry."

Natasha remained silent and he took that as a good sign that she wasn't quite as angry anymore.

"That thing you said earlier about someone stopping you from coming," she said slowly. "Your father didn't find out did he?"

"No." Thor was quick to reply. "The war on Asgard raged for nearly three years, but it was not long after I saw you for the last time that our enemies joined forces and war was waged against the land of Asgard itself. The entire Realm was besieged and the All Father, being the benevolent king that he was, called upon the strongest magic users in our land to erect a nigh on impenetrable barrier until the tension outside our borders had ceased and travel between the Realms was once again possible."

He said this with such a lackadaisical attitude that Natasha was convinced he had been forced to say it many times before.

The blonde finished the last stitch, tied the knot and carefully rubbed the area with some solvent just to disinfect it.

"So in a sense, you were physically prevented from coming," she summed up for him and he nodded.

"The amount of times that I have gone before my father and asked him as much as I was able to within reason to remove the walls was….absurd. And yet he didn't see reason. Perhaps there is some greater plan he has to achieve stability once more, but I know not what it is."

Natasha felt her anger abate somewhat.

She was still pissed but it hadn't exactly been his fault that he was unable to come, and she wasn't like those completely irrational girlfriends who –

Hold the phone.

Girlfriend?

Really?

Was that what she had been reduced to?

The thought of having such a normal…..boring title was both irritating and somewhat odd.

Is that what she was to him?

They had a complicated relationship to be sure, but it had been carrying on for the past four years like this and it worked for them.

"How did you get here then?" she asked realizing she had become distracted and he smirked.

"That would be the work of my brother, an ingenious trickster if I ever did see one. He discovered what can only be surmised as a wormhole with which I could squeeze through in order to covertly leave Asgard."

The idea of Hermione's father squeezing through anything was enough to cause a tiny smirk to quirk Natasha's lips upwards.

"He was able to discern a way out of the city and I came as swiftly as I could," he finished.

Natasha sighed as he went to put the needle and the pot back in the kitchen. She was glad he had changed out of his armor as it made him look less foreboding that way.

"Look," she said when he had come back into the living room and sat down next to her. "We need to work out a better system. I get that you can't be here all the time, but this is just as important as your duties as a prince. We don't get to see you very often, and you only showing up if there's a dangerous criminal threatening us, is not gonna cut it. We need to work something out."

He said nothing and sat down on the couch next to her.

"You are absolutely right. For both her and you and myself to have some peace of mind, we should do things differently from here on out," the blonde said finally. "Do you have any suggestions?"

Natasha pursed her lips as she thought. "We need to have some form of communication even when you're not here. Now that Hermione's aware of who you are, she's going to want to talk to you every day, and she might not understand at first that the place where your primary residence is, is not here."

Thor thought for a moment. "Perhaps there is a means of communication that can be erected. But it will take some consideration. I will ensure that you have a sufficient conclusion before I must leave again."

The words leave and again caused Natasha to grit her teeth.

She would later tell herself that it was because she was upset on behalf of her daughter, but if she were being truly honest with herself, it bothered her that she didn't have a normal relationship with Hermione's father.

The red head had long since accepted that they would never be normal, but she had been trying to construct a sort of new normalcy for herself and she did sort of want him to be a part of that.

The encounter they had with Stalin was close, far too close for comfort and she was feeling a little vulnerable at the near brush with torture her daughter had gotten. She knew children were some of the most resilient creatures in the world but she still wondered how much Hermione would recall about their little adventure in the next little while.

The blonde caught the look on her face and frowned at her. "What is it?"

"I didn't realize how scared I was until I saw the look on her face," the red head whispered. "There have only been a few times where I've ever been afraid in my life, and all of them were when I was her age. I've never been afraid since. But when they put a gun on her, I didn't know what to do."

She turned to face the god who was looking at her intently enough to make her think she was the only thing in the universe. "I've never not known what to do. I was torn between a sort of paralyzing fear and a volcanic rage that was hot enough to consume me. But I couldn't do either of those things because there was a bullet inches from our daughter's back."

She could see the pained expression on the handsome god's face and knew he would be blaming himself for this for a long time to come.

Natasha didn't really blame him anymore, even though she was still a little mad and the two year absenteeism.

"None of this was your fault," he said in his low rumbling voice that unconsciously sent a shiver down her spine and try as she might, she had missed it. "This was the work of those blinded by ambition and greed. Let that set your mind at ease."

Natasha gave an unconscious sigh and looked over at Hermione who was still asleep on the couch with the blanket covered over her. She hoped the little strawberry blonde would sleep for the next several hours uninterrupted.

"I don't think I want to move her," she whispered. "If I keep her here, it'll remind me that she's safe. I don't think I want her to be out of my sight for the next little while."

"Then we shall remain here," Thor said simply. "I do not wish to be parted from neither her nor you tonight even by means of a single wall."

He sat back on the couch, leaning against the patterned arm rest and gestured for her to lean back against him.

She hesitated before doing so a bit stiffly, but the minute her back made connection with his broad chest, that damn spark of electricity went off inside her again almost causing her to shoot upright once more.

How the hell did he do it?

"If you wish to sleep, then sleep," he said. "I will keep watch over the both of you."

"You don't need to sleep too?" Natasha asked frowning. "You were fighting just as hard as I was today, surely you're tired as well."  
"Sleep is not something that I am partial to," he replied. "It is not essential for my makeup."

"That must be nice," Natasha replied as she settled against him, suddenly feeling very comfortable. "To not have to sleep I mean. I wonder how much I could accomplish in a day if I didn't have to sleep."

"I fear that you would be twice as dangerous as you are now," the blonde replied, a hint of amusement coloring his tone.

"Are you teasing me?" she asked looking up at him and raising an eyebrow.

"Not at all," he replied smirking. "Unlike my brother, I value the recitation of the truth very highly."

"That's what I thought."

As they sat there on the couch, her leaning back against him, he slid his arms around her slim waist and pulled her a little closer so she'd be more comfortable, and the sparks came again, causing Natasha a great deal of confusion.

She cast her eyes over at Hermione and gave an inward sigh. She knew she had better call Petunia and Reg and Siri and Ivan to let them know she was alright, but at the moment, she was too tired to care.

"Is she still asleep?" she asked tiredly.

"Yes," came the deep reply. "Now sleep. Nothing will disturb you."

And as Natasha drifted off to sleep in the arms of Hermione's father, she found that she believed him.

Later, she would recall that she had done that before.

Ω

Thor had always wondered what sleep was like.

He had never needed it, but he had always wanted to experience just once the temporary oblivion from the waking world just once.

Perhaps it was because humans could dream and many of the gods couldn't.

When Odin decided to relinquish the throne to him, he would go into a deep sleep, but it was the sleep of the king and only happened when he was too old to rule.

Then and only then would he sleep.

Looking at Natasha as she lay sleeping, he wondered what she was dreaming about.

Despite the ordeal she had gone through, she seemed quite peaceful.

He glanced over at his daughter who was thoroughly embracing the throes of slumber. She hadn't moved from the position she had first laid down in which was a testament to how tired she was.

Natasha hadn't moved an inch either but he could see her lips moving very slightly.

Her face was even more beautiful in slumber and he was struck by how much he had missed the both of them and how much he had missed out on.

Damn Odin to the depths of perdition!

Because of this two year suspension on teleportation he had not been able to see his daughter and the woman he….well….

Some distinction was needed here.

Now that he had established that Natasha and his daughter were indeed fine, something needed to be done to define this little family he had.

He also knew that if he didn't return in a timely manner, his brother would be hard pressed to come up with some sort of lie to explain his absence.

But at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to care. He had been away from these tow for far too long and he would be hard pressed to leave them now.

Night wore on like that and Natasha barely moved. She must have been more exhausted than she first realized, and her body needed a long rest to recuperate from the stress of the past two days.

As the light peeked over the top of the horizon and began to shine through the blinds on the sliding glass doors of the backyard, she blinked and stirred slightly.

"What time is it?"

"Just after dawn," said a deep voice above her and Natasha blinked and saw to her surprise that Thor was still there.

"Have you been sitting like this all night?"

What she was really thinking though was, _have you been sitting there holding me all night?_

And she wasn't sure how she should feel about that.

"Natasha there are very few things that have the capacity to make me uncomfortable. The events of yesterday were one of them. And now I can say that in this moment right now, I have never been more comfortable."

Natasha inwardly grimaced as that was something that they needed to talk about before he had to leave again. But the face she showed to him was a smirk.

"I didn't realize that thousands of years has made you so eloquent," she teased gently.

His smile softened. "No, it is simply being around those I care for that brings out the philosopher in me. Or perhaps it is simply that a brush with death causes one to have more things to say as it makes him ponder his own mortality."

Not knowing where this gesture came from, Natasha reached out and put a gentle hand on the side of his face. "Then we can be glad that none of these things occurred."

Fast as it happened, the moment passed and she took her hand away, ignoring the small feeling of loss the contact gave her and got up to stretch

"I suppose I should jump into the shower before Hermione wakes up. Will you keep an eye on her?"

He said that he would and she hurried from the room, took the stairs two at a time and snatched some clean clothes before dashing into the bathroom and turning on the water full blast.

As she let the hot water massage away her stiff muscles from the odd position she had fallen asleep in the night before, she considered what she had just done.

She would never have allowed herself to fall asleep in the arms of someone had she still been in the Red Room.

After having Hermione though, her hard exterior had been softened ever so slightly, because in an odd sense, she had a family now.

Thor and Hermione were the ones who occupied the top tier with Petunia, Regulus, Sirius, Harry and Dudley just beneath it. Her father occupied a different spectrum.

But that was beside the point.

_Mother of god, something needs to be done about this! _she thought. _Either we need to be…exclusive like those pathetic girls in those soaps Petunia likes to watch in the afternoons always say or else…._

She trailed off, a thought coming to her.

Or else what?

It wasn't like she was going to go and see someone romantically. She wasn't that type of person.

And the thought of Thor doing the same thing caused her to unconsciously squeeze the soap in her hand to a pulp before she realized what she was doing and stopped.

_First things first,_ she thought as she got out of the shower and towelled herself off. _We need to come up with some sort of cover story for Ivan. He can't know who Thor is or even that he was here to begin with. That'll lead to a whole bunch of questions that I can't answer. I'll give Petunia some of the truth later and she'll just have to make herself happy with that. But we have to spin it to make it seem as if me and Hermione escaped and my first priority was getting her home and making sure she rested before I called Ivan._

It wasn't much of a plan, but she was pretty sure that Ivan would buy Hermione's involvement, she was his grandchild after all.

It was all they had to go on and as she toweled herself off, she knew that however amount of time Thor was able to stay, all of it needed to be spent with his daughter. She needed to know everything about from Asgard to how they had met to their previous lives, if she would understand any of it that was.

Something that she and Hermione's father would also have to discuss was their daughter's very surprising burst of accidental magic.

Natasha had seen Hermione and the boys levitate and float plastic balls to each other when they were babies, but she had never seen something like causing the electricity in the room to burst from its bulbs and electrocute several grown men.

That had to be some sort of side effect from her father.

He needed to know about that too.

She dressed quickly and toweled off her hair before bounding down the stairs and hurrying to the living room.

The sight that greeted her was one she would remember for a long time.

Hermione must have woken up while she was in the shower and was now sitting on her father's knee.

Thor had his hand out in front of her, palm facing upward and a sphere of golden light was orbiting just above the surface of his hand.

When Natasha leaned forward and saw what they were looking at, she smiled.

It appeared to be a topographical magical sphere of Asgard. Thor was showing her all the little buildings and landmarks that were embedded in the golden sphere and what each one meant and what they were used for.

"And this is the palace of Asgard," Thor said pointing carefully to the largest object within the sphere.

Natasha peered closed and the outside sort of reminded her of the bars of a pipe organ, except these were far more foreboding.

"It's so pretty," Hermione said in a hushed voice. She looked up at Thor with her eyes bright. "Will I ever get to see it Daddy?"

"I'm afraid not little spark," Thor said and the deep rumble of his voice grew slightly quieter. "At least not yet. Your grandfather is…..stubborn to say the least. But I can assure you of the fact that your grandmother would love you."

He chucked her under the chin and she elicited a happy giggle.

Natasha folded her arms across her chest and looked down at her daughter until she did that thing that she was able to do, feeling when someone was looking at her and glanced up to see her mother standing there.

"Mummy!" she exclaimed jumping to her feet. "Daddy was telling me about As….gard," she said the word carefully. "It's pretty! Do you think I'll get to go someday?"

"I don't know sweetheart," Natasha told her as she bent down in front of her little girl. "I haven't even gone there yet. Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

Hermione nodded and dashed for the kitchen, thinking about her favorite Lucky Charms that she hadn't had in days.

Thor got up slowly from the couch. "I hope you don't mind that I told her a little of my home."

"Not at all," Natasha replied as they headed for the kitchen behind their daughter. "At least now she'll know where it is that you go when you leave."

Thor took her by the arm and they stopped in the doorway to the kitchen, watching as Hermione levitated the box of Lucky Charms and a bowl down from the shelf and happily poured the cereal and marshmallows into the bowl.

"How often has she been doing that?" Thor asked as they watched her.

"Since she was seven months old," Natasha replied. "But it's only been recently that her powers have become more…..pronounced."

He raised a blonde brow. "I beg your pardon?"

Natasha told him quietly about had happened when they were being held hostage, how Hermione had realized that she was in danger and acted, how when she screamed, it seemed to release the electricity of every single lightbulb in the warehouse and how it had electrocuted over half a dozen of Stalin's scientists.

When she was finished, Thor's smirk had widened into a grin, she could practically feel the electricity sizzling about him as the air in the room became slightly warmer.

"What are you grinning about?" she demanded.

"I didn't expect this to occur so soon," he explained. "There was a chance she may have inherited my abilities yet I was unsure of when. It would appear that Hermione's abilities are connected to her instincts rather than her emotions like her friends are. That makes them a little easier to control. She saw that you were in danger and so she acted. With some training, she should be able to mold them into a lethal weapon."

Natasha clamped a hand down on his arm. "I don't want Mione growing up the way I did, so making her a trained killer is out of the question!"

Thor raised an eyebrow. "To think that you would even suggest that is something I would ever even contemplate doing to our daughter says how little you know me. What I am suggesting is that as she grows, she learns more about what she is and how to handle such ramifications. Whether she comes by that physically or some other way is up for discussion. She already knows of my heritage for I have spoken with her about it."

"Good," Natasha nodded. "That's one problem out of the way. So how do you suggest I deal with these abilities of hers? They're far beyond anything I've ever seen."

"The only reason I suggested training is so that she can learn to hone her instincts and in turn sharpen her magic. The fear she felt when she saw you being threatened yesterday can be molded into a more high intensity combination where she is able to concentrate the electricity on certain targets. She many never be able to control the weather and the elements as I can, but then she is not me, and I would not expect her to."

"So in a sense, I do train her, just not with weapons."

"Precisely. Unless that is something that you feel in time she is ready for."

Natasha looked at the little strawberry blonde who was happily munching away on her Lucky Charms as if she hadn't been kidnapped the day before.

"I don't want her to be defenseless ever again," she whispered to the blonde fiercely and he nodded. "She's only four so I won't go crazy with the training, she needs to be a child as well. But I will begin teaching her some basic things and then…..well maybe as she gets older I can begin to show her some of what I know."

He nodded. "An excellent idea."

He went to join their daughter at the table and Natasha went to pour herself a cup of tea. As soon as she had done so, she turned and had to hide her grin behind her cup because the blonde and Hermione were debating the benefits of Lucky Charms.

Thor had picked up the red box and was staring at the leprechaun on the front with a look of disgust on his face.

"It's incredible the things you mortals eat here," he said and turned to look at her in disbelief.

She raised an eyebrow at him. "I don't eat that. I only buy it for Hermione and when she turns five, she's going to be eating healthy breakfasts."

"I should say so," Thor muttered picking up the box of cereal. "What on earth is this little man on the front?"

"He's a leprechaun!" Hermione exclaimed around a mouthful of cereal. "His name's Lucky!"

Thor raised as eyebrow as he looked at the box. "Of course, how idiotic of me."

Natasha snorted into her cup of tea and then remembered that she needed to call Petunia and Ivan without delay and let them know she was alright.

She muttered out a curse in Russian and the blonde looked up from his daughter.

"What is it?"

Natasha headed for the phone. "I need to call Petunia and Regulus and tell them we're alright. They're probably worried sick."

"I assume you've come up with some sort of plan to explain how you escaped?" he asked as he got to his feet.

"I did," she said as she picked up the phone. "And fortunately for us, it doesn't include you. What I need you to do is disappear for a while so we can lay out this plan for them. No one can know you're here, least of all Ivan because he has no idea who you are.

" Here's how it's going to happen. I will call Petunia and Ivan and tell them we're safe. I will also tell them the location of where we were held, how Hermione and I escaped as there weren't a lot of armed men there and that they were easy to overpower. We stole a car and drove until we got back to Surrey where we ditched the car and I used magic to banish it. We got back to the house at around midnight and I meant to call but my priority was Hermione and making sure she was alright and so I meant to call but we both fell asleep from exhaustion and when I woke up I called first thing."

He nodded. "It seems reasonable enough. I made sure to dispose of the bodies when I was there the night before, so there will be no more physical evidence."

"Good," Natasha nodded. "And then I need to track down that bastard Stalin myself and take my retribution from him."

"When _we _track him down," Thor corrected her. "He is a dangerous man and for my sake, please do not attempt to go after him alone."

Natasha looked at him for a long moment. "Alright, but I don't want the trail to get cold."

"It will not. Now you had best make that phone call so our lives can become infinitely more complicated."

Ω

Petunia felt she was about to drop from sleep deprivation.

It had been three days since Emma and Hermione had gone missing and there hadn't been any word from her friend and niece.

Harry and Dudley were constantly looking at her as if she would turn into a monster at any moment and Regulus and Sirius had taken to pacing the house and only muttering things to each other and her in a peculiar language of mumbles.

Everyone's nerves were so on edge that when the phone rang, Petunia jumped a foot in the air and was glad that she hadn't been holding anything in her hand at the time as if she had, she probably would have broken it.

She dove for the phone hanging from the wall and snatched it off its cradle. "Hello?"

There was a pause on the other end of the line. "Petunia? Is that you?"

The blonde dropped into one of the chairs, barely aware that Regulus and Sirius had dashed over.

"Emma? Oh thank god! Are you and Hermione alright?"

"Yes we're fine. I'll explain everything that happened in a moment. Listen, is Ivan there?"

Just then there came a knock on the door and Sirius ran to answer it.

He came back a second later with Ivan in tow.

"Emma?" Ivan asked pointing to the phone and while he didn't show it, Petunia could hear the relief in his voice.

She nodded.

He held out a hand gesturing for her to give him the phone and she reluctantly handed it over.

What followed after that was a short quick conversation in Russian in which both of the Blacks and Petunia strained to try and understand.

_I always did think going to Durmstrang would be a good idea just for its foreign language components, _Regulus thought absently.

A second later, Ivan hung up the phone and cursed.

"What is it?" Petunia asked.

"We should probably head back to Little Whinging," Ivan explained. "Emma's already there."

"She's back at the house?" Sirius exclaimed. "How? When?"

Ivan headed for the door and Petunia called for the boys who came hurrying down the stairs.

"Get your coats and your bags," Petunia told them. "Aunt Emma and Hermione have been found. They're back at home and they're waiting for us."

The boys' eyes lit up and they dashed back up the stairs to gather their things, while Petunia turned to Emma's father.

"Mr. Bezukhov, what's going on? How did Emma get herself and Hermione back to the house?"

Ivan ran a hand through his hair. "Apparently the group that oversaw their abduction was a small terrorist organization intent on bringing down both the Soviets and the Americans in one fell swoop. They didn't stay long enough to find out what that swoop entailed, but apparently, this group….they're called the Weavers….has kept their eyes peeled for highly trained soldiers like Emma to be inducted into. They took along Hermione to make sure she would cooperate."

"Oh my god," Petunia said faintly. "Are they alright?"

Ivan nodded. "Thankfully, there weren't enough of them to pose a serious threat and using a good deal of wheedling and a lot of cleverness, they were able to steal one of the vans on the property and escape back to England. Apparently, Hermione's accidental magic aided in their freedom."

Regulus and Sirius exchanged glances and grinned.

"She told me she would have called the second she got in as they escaped sometime in the night, but apparently it took a while for them to get back to Surrey. By that time it was the early hours of the morning and Hermione was exhausted, so it was only a few hours ago that they arrived."

Something in his tone made Petunia wonder if this was out of character for Emma, but she decided to put it out of her mind just this once.

Just then the boys hurried back down the stairs with all of their things and Petunia looked at her fiancée and brother in law.

"We had better get going."

Ω

"Now remember Hermione, when Uncle Reg and Uncle Siri and Harry and Dudley and Aunt Petunia and your grandfather get here, you cannot say anything about your father to them. They cannot know. We may tell your Aunt Petunia a little bit of what happened later, but Grandpa can _never _find out. Do you understand?"

Hermione looked up at her mother uncertainly from the couch and nodded.

"Good," Natasha said.

After she had made the phone call, Hermione had finished her breakfast and she and Thor had put everything away before he kissed Hermione on the forehead as well as Natasha and went out to the backyard and disappeared in a flash of light.

Thankfully Natasha remembered to grab her wand and banish the ten foot wide rune in the soil.

"Mummy, when will Daddy be back?" Hermione asked uncertainly as Natasha took her upstairs to change clothes.

"As soon as everyone leaves," Natasha assured her. "Daddy is a secret, nobody can know about him, remember?"

"Okay."

No sooner had she finished dressing the little strawberry blonde then there came a pounding on the door.

Natasha hurried down the stairs, deposited her daughter in the living room with only a hasty, "remember what I told you," and dashed for the front door.

When she opened it, Ivan was the first one in. He didn't even say anything before eyeing her up and down very quickly and pulling her into his arms.

That was the thing about her and Ivan, even though they didn't have to speak, there was communication taking place.

After a long minute, Natasha stepped back and smiled tiredly as Petunia and Regulus and Sirius and the boys stepped into the house.

"Auntie Emma!" Harry and Dudley squealed and threw themselves at her, wrapping their arms around her leg. The babble of little voices caused Natasha to have to swallow hard. She loved these little boys a lot. They had grown up alongside Hermione and were like family, it was really good to see them again.

"Hermione's in the living room if you want to go play with her," she told them and they whooped and dashed off down the hall.

"Are you alright?" Petunia asked tearfully as she stepped forward and hugged her friend.

"Aside from a gunshot wound, I'm fine."

"Oh my god!"

"Petunia, there's time for that later," Regulus said as he and Sirius stepped forward and gave the red head a hug. "Thank Merlin you're alright."

"Maybe we should go into the kitchen so I can tell you what happened," Natasha suggested once hellos were finished being said.

They all trooped to the kitchen where everyone sat down and Natasha took a deep breath and told them her story.

She was glad she had gone over it with Thor before he had left so they could get it all straight and iron out any problems.

It had been full proof as a result.

She told Ivan about the Weavers finding her on the beach and taking along Hermione to make her cooperate, how they had taken them to their offshore warehouse which turned out to house several geneticists who claimed to be well versed in the art of creating their own super soldier serum with which they were going to use on her and Hermione.

Petunia gasped here and pressed a hand to her mouth but Natasha continued on.

"We hit upon a stroke of luck in the middle of the night and I was able to break out of my cell to where Hermione was being held. I managed to get to her and we headed for the door. I had to take out a few of the people who got in our way, but once we were outside it became a little easier. We took the first vehicle we saw, thankfully I know how to hot wire them, and we headed for the mainland.

"It took a few hours to get back to Surrey where we ditched the car in an abandoned parking lot, and then we trekked back here, where I put Hermione to bed, tended to my leg and we ended up falling asleep."

"And this man Stalin," Ivan said looking at her carefully. "He escaped?"

"He did," Natasha replied. "A relation of Joseph Stalin's, an anarchist. His desire was to create an army of super soldiers to bring the world to his heel and put an end to this Cold War that currently has the world in thrall."

Ivan downed the rest of his coffee and got to his feet with a snap. "I need to call this in. Stalin's a wanted criminal in three different countries including Russia. I wasn't even aware that the Weavers had a base of operations in this area, I thought we had wiped them all out years ago. Someone needs to get on top of this. This could be the case of the century."

He kissed Natasha on the cheek and said he would be back the next day after he had cased the place she had told him about.

When he went out the door, there was silence in the kitchen aside from the sounds of Harry Dudley and Hermione playing in the living room.

Natasha realized her friends were all staring at her. "What?"

Regulus took a deep before glancing at Petunia and getting down to it. "Emma, Ivan told us a few things in your…..absence, and we weren't sure if we wanted to believe him, but we decided we should hear it from you first."

"What did he tell you?" she asked calmly sitting down again.

"The reason you're so calm all the time, the way nothing ever seems to faze you….you weren't part of the Muggle Military were you?"

Natasha looked around at them all. They were her closest friends and had become somewhat akin to family in the last four years. If she couldn't trust them, than who could she trust?

"No," she said finally. "I wasn't."

Petunia let out a big sigh as if releasing something she had kept pent up for a while.

"I suppose I should tell you everything then," she said and unconsciously, Regulus and Sirius leaned forward.

"I was inducted into this initiative as a young teenager," she replied. "They were looking for the ultimate weapons and as you know some of the greatest weapons to be had were….people. I started taking serums as soon as I was inducted."

"What do you mean by serums exactly?" Sirius asked.

Natasha inwardly sighed, unsure of how they were going to take this.

"It means they had developed something called the genesis serum. And what it does is essentially slow down the aging process exponentially, increase the reflexes as well as the eyesight, the hearing, the speed and the agility and brain power of the human that takes it. So essentially, normal humans have access to twenty percent of their brain power, I have access to one hundred percent."

Regulus choked on the coffee he was drinking and coughed several times before Sirius had to pound him on the back.

"I've only read things like that in science fiction novels," Petunia said faintly. "I had no idea any of it was true."

"Well believe it," Natasha said grimly. "I think I turned out to be the best they had because I was already a witch and those who have magic already tend to be healthier and live longer than those who don't."

"Well if this wasn't some sort of branch of the military, what was it exactly that you did?" Sirius asked. He and Regulus and Petunia didn't look freaked out like she had half expected them to be, but then again, they had all seen her fight so they knew at least part of what she could do.

Here came the big part though.

"I was an international assassin," Natasha said calmly.

There was complete silence in the kitchen and all of her friends were looking at her as if waiting for the punchline.

"You're serious?" Regulus asked after about a thirty second pause.

"Yes," Natasha replied. "I was genetically altered to basically be a faster and more intelligent model than other humans, probably even some wizards. It will take a while for me to age and my cells and neurons are constantly regenerating and I can be killed, but I'll never get sick."

"This is…..unbelievable," Petunia said quietly.

"But in a way," Sirius began slowly. "It sort of makes sense. I've never seen anyone else be able to fight the way you do and the way you can talk about hostage situations so calmly when any other human being would be a mess. I guess when I hear about it, it isn't altogether surprising."

"I hope you won't think of me differently now that you know the truth," Natasha said quietly and for some reason, she was looking at Petunia when she said it.

The blonde took a deep breath. "Well it certainly is a shock to hear about, but now the casual way that we got rid of Vernon makes sense. And in a way you were a soldier, just a different type of one….a genetically altered one. Is that why they came after you?"

"Yes," Natasha replied feeling a little relieved at the response. "Stalin's goal was to make his own army of super soldiers and quote on quote, take the world out of chaos by someone with complete control."

"Sounds like the bloody communist manifesto," Petunia muttered and the other two agreed.

"So how'd you get wounded?" Sirius asked and Natasha grimaced down at her leg.

"We were trying to escape and they shot at me. Thankfully it was only a flesh wound and the bullet went right through it was easy to clean out and tie up."

"How did you get back here without passing out?" Regulus asked.

"Well as soon as we got to the main land I was able to tie up the wound with some bandages I found in the back and we kept driving," Natasha explained. "My body has this trigger it seems, and so it clots blood faster than it would if I wasn't genetically altered so the wound begins to crust over more quickly so I lose less blood."

"Those Russian scientists thought of everything," Petunia muttered.

They continued to talk for the next few hours and Natasha told them as much as she was able to. She told them about some of the targets she had taken out, being child traffickers and drug lords and corrupt diplomats and so on and so forth.

"I imagine it was difficult living a life like that," Regulus said when she was finished.

It had now worn on to afternoon and it was getting late, the sun was beginning to turn the sky a lovely shade of gold and Natasha wondered when Thor would be back.

"It was at first," she said. "But the more I learned and trained, the more I began to realize that the world isn't as black and white as we paint it."

Just then, Dudley came in dragging a toy and looking tired.

"Uncle Reg," he said. "I'm sleepy, can we go home so I can take a nap?"

"Sure kiddo," Regulus replied and got to his feet so he could pick the little boy up. "Is Harry tired too?"

"He's already asleep."

"Oh good then, we can take them both home. Siri, could you grab Harry?"

When his brother went in the other room to fetch his god son, Regulus leaned down and whispered something to Petunia and she nodded.

Sirius came back in with Harry and the two men left, out the front door, saying they would see them later.

But Petunia just sat there with her hands wrapped around her cup of coffee and staring at the counter top.

"Petunia?" Natasha asked uncertainly. "What is it?"

"Now that you've told me everything about who you were," the blonde began. "There's something I need to ask too?"

"Okay. What is it?"

Petunia took a deep breath and looked up at her friend. "Was Dan part of this initiative as well? Was he genetically altered too?"

Natasha frowned, not expecting the question, and pondering inwardly how to answer.

"Yes, he was," she replied. "He worked with a different initiative and we had to collaborate for a certain assignment to America which was where Hermione was conceived."

Petunia nodded as if taking all this information in. "So I can conclude that he's a genetically altered super human too?"

"You might say that."

"Okay, and one last thing," Petunia asked and she seemed to be readying herself for a big question. "Is Emma even your real name?"

Natasha was shocked that that would be the thing that would enter her friends mind.

"What did Ivan tell you?" she demanded.

"Never mind what he said for right now," Petunia said waving her hand dismissively. "I want to hear it from you. Is Emma your real name?"

Natasha took a deep breath, realizing that it was now or never.

"No," she said. "Emma is not my real name."

To her credit, Petunia didn't act completely surprised as if this was something she hadn't expected. In fact, she was very calm about it.

"What it is it?" she asked.

"Natasha….Natasha Romanov. Emma Granger was a cover that Ivan gave me so that when I left Russia, my previous place of employment wouldn't find me."

"Natasha," Petunia said rolling the name over and over on her tongue.

She looked up at the red head and smiled. "I think I like that better than Emma."

Natasha kept her face expressionless but inside she would admit that she was relieved. Her friends had taken this a lot better than she thought they would and now she could be honest with them.

"Listen," Petunia said as she got up to go. "I wanted to get in touch with Dan to let him know that you'd gone missing, but I didn't know any way to do that."

"Oh that's okay," Natasha said easily as she put the cups of coffee in the sink. "I called him the second I got in, he's on his way."

"He's coming here?" Petunia asked looking a little excited and Natasha fought the urge to smirk.

She knew that despite how much Petunia loved Regulus that it was a little impossible for her to act like a normal human being around Thor. She didn't blame her, any other human woman would lose their cool around someone like that. It wasn't like Petunia could help it. The god was made to appeal to women.

"Yes, he'll be here in a few hours," she said biting the inside of her cheek.

"How long is he going to stay?" Petunia asked.

"I'm not sure," Natasha said frowning, realizing this was something she did indeed need to talk to the handsome blonde about. "I need to ask him."

"Well if he's going to stay for a while, maybe we could do dinner some time," Petunia suggested tentatively and she looked so eager that Natasha wasn't sure if she could refuse her.

"Maybe, we'll see."

The grin on Petunia's face was undeniable.

Natasha knew she was very family oriented and in a roundabout way, the blonde considered her family and in that regard, it was important for her to have good relationships with the people her family was involved with.

Namely the god of lightning and storms that had fathered Hermione.

After Natasha gave Petunia a hug and showed her out, she shut the door and leaned against it, staring at the ceiling.

"What the hell did I just agree to?" she muttered.

"Apparently, it seems I am having dinner with several friends of yours," said a deep voice.

Natasha smirked and turned around.

"I didn't say yes, I said maybe. And were you here the whole time?"

The blonde folded his arms across his chest from where he was sitting on the stairs. "I find invisibility is a trait that is quite useful when you want to observe the intricacies of human conversation. Where's Hermione?"

"So essentially, you were eavesdropping," Natasha raised raising an eyebrow.

He got to his feet, so he was standing once more a head taller than her. "I don't consider it thus."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Hermione's asleep on the couch. I think the events of yesterday tired her out more than we thought and playing with Harry and Dudley only induced it."

"Nice boys," the god observed as they walked into the living room and saw that their daughter was indeed asleep. "Frankly though, the company you keep is rather odd."

"How's that?"

"Two magic users, one is an escaped convict, and the other is supposed to be dead, what you call a Muggle and two small children who all have magic in their own right. You include yourself as a former espionage agent, and this is a collaboration for the bizarre."

"Really?" She said as they sat down on the couch across from their daughter. "You forgot to mention the oddest one of all."

"And that is?"

"A god who also happens to be a smart ass," she said smirking at him.

He gave her a warm smile in response.

Natasha licked her lips and then decided she had better get right down to it now that Hermione was asleep.

"What are we going to do about this?" she asked.

"I beg your pardon?"

"Us," she said, hating that she even had to bring this up. "She's gonna get older and she's going to wonder why her parents aren't always together. I'll explain why to her, but that doesn't mean she's going to understand."

Thor leaned back on the couch and folded his arms across his broad chest. "I sense there's a meaning you're trying to articulate. Say it plainly, we know enough of each other now that we don't need to, beat around the bush, as the mortals say."

Natasha smirked and then made up her mind to be perfectly honest. "I know we're not….married like Petunia and Regulus will be soon enough. And honestly I don't know what marriage ceremonies in Asgard entail, but I do think that some stability needs to be had in Hermione's life and maybe knowing that her parents are…committed to each other….would help."

Dear god, she could have done that so much better.

Thor was looking at her with an unreadable expression on his handsome face and Natasha almost wanted to squirm.

"What are you thinking?" she asked finally.

"I am thinking that as…..unorthodox as this entire situation is, that perhaps you are right. But let us put aside Hermione for a moment. I may not be well versed in the wedding ceremonies of Midgard but one of things that my world and your world have in common in that regard is the love there is between partners. Now can you look me in the eye and say you feel that way for me, with complete honesty?"

Son of a bitch.

Natasha took a deep breath and decided that perhaps honesty would be the best way to go.

"I honestly don't know," she said, but she couldn't bring herself to look at him when she said it. "I know that I care about you a good deal and not just as Hermione's father. I know that I miss you when you're away and I know that it always makes me happy when you're here, as if this household is complete."

She blinked in surprise when his hand came out of nowhere and gently lifted her chin so she could look into his eyes.

Those stormy blue orbs that she had always thought so hypnotizing were looking at her very gently.

"I feel the same way," he said quietly. "And perhaps in time there will be more."

And then to her surprise, he leaned down, and kissed her.

Bloody hell.

The chemistry was still as intense as it had ever been and before she knew it, Natasha found herself responding.

Unlike before in America however, there wasn't the desperate need to rip each other clothes off as they had done.

Now it felt like one of sweet surrender, acknowledging the fact that something was there, and the silent agreement to take the time to find out what it was.

When they both broke apart, Natasha blinked and gave a short nod.

"Well then…I guess that answers that question."

Thor threw back his head and gave a deep laugh that had her unconsciously smiling too.

"My sentiments are shared," he replied.

"So….what do we do?" she asked. "We have a child but we're not married, we stay in the same house but we don't sleep together – "

He raised an eyebrow at that.

"You know what I mean," Natasha said dismissively. "I don't know anyone who's like the two of us. And you're not here half the time."

"There is not someone else in Asgard if that's what you're asking," the god said and Natasha had no idea why she felt so relieved about that.

"And there is no one here," she replied.

"Then as long as there is this understanding between us, then perhaps it should be more binding," Thor said slowly as if he was thinking of an idea and she nodded.

"What did you have in mind?"

"We have what is called a….courtship ritual in Asgard," he began. "The two persons have an understand that there is no one else outside of the two of them and once that acknowledgement is made, they enter into a binding ritual where they will only see the other…..romantically of course. Suppose that is what we do?"

Natasha blinked and considered it for a moment.

On the one hand, it sounded terribly archaic to her.

On the other hand it would be nice to define what this bizarre relationship was. It would be nice to tell Hermione that there was some sort of stability to this whole thing.

"Suppose I said yes," she said. "What exactly does this…..binding relationship entail?"

"Hold out your arm," Thor said and after a moment's hesitation, she complied.

He then rolled the sleeve of the long cotton shirt he was wearing up to his elbow and laid it parallel with hers.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked her before he began to ritual.

"Yes," she said and she was pretty sure that she meant it.

Natasha had no intention of seeing anyone else, she wasn't that type of woman to casually date and in her own personal opinion, there wasn't really anyone else who keep up with her other than Hermione's father.

_Huh, I guess this is what shooting for the stars and actually getting one is like._

Thor nodded and then hovered his hand over both of their arms and began whispering words in a strange language that she had never heard before.

Probably Asgardian.

When he finished there was this silver flash of light around both of their wrists and when it had cleared, Natasha looked down to find a strange silver marking on the inside of her arm.

It was a straight line with a square tilted sideways and embedded through the top of the line. Where the bottom point of the square met the line there were two silvery lines coming out of the main line in an upside down V. The lines rippled like water and seemed to shine. It was incredibly simple, but very elegant at the same time. It was about four inches long and could be completely hidden if she turned her wrist over.

In a way, she was glad that it wasn't elaborate. It was simple might at the same time very special.

"What does it mean?" she asked as she ran her hand lightly over the marking. It felt cool to the touch, as is the water from a spring had been inked into her skin.

"It is a symbol for heart," Thor explained quietly. "When I leave here again, it is something I will leave with you and with Hermione and when I return I will take it up again."

He showed her the inside of his wrist which bore the same marking and she smiled softly as she ran her hand over it. "I suppose this holds true for me as well. When you aren't here I do feel as if something is missing."

"And I can ask for no more than that at this time."

"So, what happens when two people who have these marks become married on Asgard?" Natasha asked. "Do the markings change?"

"They will turn gold," he explained. "Like on Midgard, gold is seen as something that is timeless."

Natasha smirked. "You guys are pretty romantic up there aren't you?"

He smiled back at her. "Thousands of years give one time to sort out one's own feelings on the subject of romance."

Natasha smiled down at the sigil on her arm.

She rather liked it.

_I kind of hope this works, _she thought to herself. _Not just for Hermione…..but maybe for me too._

"What are you thinking about?" The god asked.

Natasha was still looking at the sigil. "About how glad I am that you came when you did yesterday. Thank you."

It wasn't something that she was used to saying, but when it was said, she meant it wholeheartedly.

His smile deepened and he leaned over and rested his forehead against hers without saying anything because he didn't have to, and both closed their eyes.

_Yes, _Natasha thought. _This is a very good place to start._

Ω

Meanwhile, several miles away on an abandoned fortress on the English coast two people were having a much different conversation.

If you were to see them side by side, you might think that there couldn't have been two people more different.

One was middle aged, Caucasian and dressed in a smart looking black suit with his hair neatly combed to one side. He had blue eyes and his lips were pressed into a permanent line, betraying the fact that he rarely smiled and he had on smart black Oxfords that clicked against the concrete floor as he walked.

The other was much more foreboding.

His white teeth shone brightly in contrast against his dark skin when he spoke and one would easily be able to identify him from the fact that there was an eye patch over his left eye. His head was smooth and shaven and apart from the neatly trimmed goatee on his chin, his face was completely hairless.

He was also dressed in dark clothes, with a long black coat over it to shield against the chill of the ocean and it went to just below his knees. He also had on tall black boots that had a sure stride and his one good eye gleamed with a sharp intelligence.

Currently the two men were walking around the interior of the abandoned warehouse examining the ten foot wide rune that had somehow burned itself into the concrete floor. It looked as if it had been there awhile and the detail on it was perfect. There was a peculiar smell to it as well, a heady scent of ozone and a burning that reminded both men of lightning.

Finally the man in the suit looked up at the one with the eye patch.

"It's consistent with the ones our spies have found in Russia and in Miami Director Fury," he said.

"Good," Fury replied.

SHIELD had bases of operations all over the world to keep him apprised of any mysterious outpouring of magical or mutant ability in any part of the world.

And there had been a hell of a lot of it coming from this particular location in the last few days.

Fury and Coulson had already discovered the remains of a scientific laboratory in the basement of this place along with a submarine hanger as well as a kennel with several very dissatisfied looking dogs.

There had been a few vials of a strange blue liquid left behind and after having them analyzed, Coulson had confirmed that they had been test vials of the genesis serum in its crudest form.

There had only been one underground agency that had had access to such things after Howard Stark was killed and his super soldier serum mysteriously went missing about four and a half years ago.

The Red Room.

Since the theft of the serum in November of four years and six months previously, Fury had been quietly looking into the dealings of the Red Room and what he had discovered had been surprising.

About two year after the theft of the super soldier serum, the Red Room had dissolved and all of its agents had disappeared.

It no longer existed.

So to find crude remnants of a serum they used to enhance their agents in an abandoned warehouse on the British coast was surprising to say the least.

Whoever had been here though, had left few bits of trace evidence behind.

"I'll get someone out here to analyze the chemicals in this sir," Coulson said as he got to his feet and Fury gave him a sharp nod.

"I want to know who was giving off such powerful signals here Coulson and I want to know soon," he said as both men strode for the door of the place.

"Sir, what makes you think this was the work of mutants or those who have been genetically altered?" the other agent asked.

"Because the vibrations that this place gave off could be felt as far as New York and SHIELD headquarters," Fury explained as they walked outside to the sleek looking car.

The British Secret Service had already swept the place and had found nothing, but they didn't have the resources that SHIELD did.

"There was a large fight that took place here Coulson and whoever was involved in it left that rune in the soil and trace evidence behind. I want to know who it was, and I want to know now."

"But sir, you don't think that mutants could have caused this do you? I mean there were scorch marks on the walls like someone called down lightning from the sky and blasted the place. A third of the roof was also torn off and I don't know anything that could have caused that, human or mutant. The electricity in the warehouse was also shot and every last bulb was shattered as everything had short circuited. There were also burn marks of man-made size on the floor as if someone had been electrocuted. You don't think one person could have done all that do you?"

"We live in an age of nuclear weapons and arms races Coulson," Fury replied as they stepped out of the warehouse and into the harsh British wind before walking to the car. "Anything's possible. The world has come to a point where we don't know our own strength and have created things out of legend, monsters and magic and mutants are now all very real things that have to be considered as a result of this Cold War. I want to know who was here. Find them."

Ω

**I felt because Thor has been gone for like seven chapters we should just have one or two that are about him and Hermione and Natasha, so there isn't as much action in this one, I'm sorry. Okay so now we have a small introduction from SHIELD. The binding ceremony I made up, just so you know. And since so many of you have requested that Thor meet the Black Brothers, I will see to that for you, but it will be in the next chapter. Don't forget to review and enjoy!**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20

The following morning, was a bright sunny day and Petunia decided she was going to waste no time in getting out in the flower beds and beginning her gardening for the spring.

She kept a flower bed in the front and a vegetable garden in the back and now that it was late April and getting on to spring time, she was eager to begin planting and let the bright colors chase away the dinghy brown grass that the snow had left behind.

But first came the hard part, tilling the soil, and making sure that the ground beneath was fertile enough for the seeds to be planted.

It wasn't Petunia's favorite job, but on that particular morning it gave her a custom made excuse to observe the arrival of Dan Granger.

Emma…..Natasha…..had told her the day before that he would be arriving in a few hours but something must have happened to delay him for when a tall form caught the corner of her eye, she happened to glance up and see the imposing figure of the blonde striding down the sidewalk and up the driveway of Number 5.

In the back of her mind, she knew she was staring and felt incredibly guilty about it, but there was a strange part of her that couldn't help herself. There just seemed to be this kind of aura about him that drew her gaze.

He was the most ruggedly handsome man that she had ever seen and it wasn't fair that she couldn't help but look at him.

He was dressed in simple dark jeans, black Oxfords and a long sleeved black polo shirt, simple things…..but he still drew her attention like a magnet.

Petunia had to physically wrench her gaze away and concentrate wholeheartedly on the tilled earth beneath her feet, but even then there was a voice inside of her screaming at her to look up and continue her perusal.

She loved Regulus, she reminded herself.

She wasn't insanely attracted to Emma's…..no, Natasha's god of a husband.

Petunia finally couldn't take it anymore and happened to glance up just in time to see Dan knocking on the front door of Number 5.

A second later, it opened and Natasha stepped out, Petunia was definitely going to have to get used to using her real name and smiled at him before he pulled her into his arms.

Petunia sighed and glanced down at her flower bed once more, completely unaware that this was an act that Natasha and Thor had put on to make it seem as if he hadn't just shown up in her house.

_Maybe Dan is a wizard too, _Petunia thought to herself. _Whenever I got near him last time, he had this gravity about him that kind of pulled me closer like a magnet. I wonder if some wizards have auras that make them more attractive to the opposite sex. I'd feel much better knowing that there are. Maybe I should talk to Regulus about this._

She felt kind of guilty about the fact that she was physically attracted to another man, but there had to some kind of magical explanation.

No man could be that good looking strictly based on genes.

Could they?

Meanwhile both Natasha and Thor had disappeared back into the house and Hermione wasted no time in accosting her father so that he could play with her.

Natasha had been a little concerned at first that the god wouldn't know how to play with a child, much less his own, but he surprised her again by suggesting they go outside.

It was a warm day for April and Natasha was a little glad for a moment of quiet.

Hermione on the other hand was thrilled to see her daddy again. He had left again for a few minutes this morning but had returned soon after and had told her he was going to spend the entire day with her.

Natasha got a call not too long after that from Ivan, asking if she wouldn't mind coming down to headquarters to answer some questions about the events of the past two days.

So after getting the god's unbroken promise to keep an eye on his daughter for the next few hours, she reluctantly left, promising she would be back soon.

Now when Hermione told her daddy what Uncle Reg sometimes did, throwing her and Harry and Dudley into the air, daddy got this sneaky look on his face.

"Was it this high?" he asked before swinging her into his arms and throwing her into the air.

Hermione let out a delighted shriek when she flew into the air and was able to see over the fence into Harry and Duddy's backyard.

"Higher daddy higher!" she squealed as she came back down and the blonde grinned wider and proceeded to toss her even higher.

This game proceeded to continue for a few minutes until Hermione came down for the umpteenth time and the little strawberry blonde happened to see that the back gate in the fence was open and two small curious and very familiar faces were peeking through.

"Wait Daddy!" she cried out before he threw her in the air again and jumped down so she could run over to the gate and pull Harry and Dudley through.

They looked a little shy, but grinned when they saw her.

"Hi Mione," Harry said, glancing behind her at Thor and he looked a little in awe.

"What are you doing?" Dudley asked who was also paying attention to the tall guy behind her.

"Come on," Hermione said grabbing their hands and pulled them back over to the blonde with a big smile on her face.

"Daddy, these are my friends Harry and Dudley," she said and both little boys were now looking down at their feet, suddenly very shy.

Thor smiled down at them and bent down so he was now eyelevel with the other two four year olds.

"Its nice to meet you," he said reaching out to shake their hands.

Harry and Dudley looked shocked but they remembered what their aunt and mother had told them about being little gentlemen in public and reached out to shake Hermione's father's hand somberly, both of them staring at their feet.

When that had concluded, Dudley leaned over and whispered something in Hermione's ear and she giggled. "I know, that's what I thought too."

"What are they saying Hermione?" Thor asked as he bent down in front of the three small four year olds, two of whom looked down at their feet shyly.

Hermione giggled again, then went over to her father and whispered it in his ear. She didn't want to make her best mates embarrassed.

"Me and Harry and Duddy sometimes watch cartoons at Aunt Tuney's. Duddy and Harry say that you look like one of the super hero's we sometimes see on the telly."

Thor had no idea why this pleased him, but it did. His daughter had obviously picked her friends with great discretion…..well…with as much discretion as one could have at four years of age.

"And do you like those shows?" he asked turning his attention to the small boys.

The television was an interesting instrument invented by the humans, something to stimulate the imaginations of them to be sure.

The god hadn't taken the time to sit down and watch such a thing, but perhaps now that he had a daughter that enjoyed it, then he would.

Harry nodded eagerly. "Everyone can do magic on the telly, even the superhero's. Some can even fly!"

"Do you think we'll get to fly someday Harry?" Dudley asked excitedly. "We can do magic too!"

"Can you?" Thor asked raising an eyebrow at them and both four year olds nodded so hard he thought their heads would fall off.

"Do….do you want to see sir?" Dudley asked shyly.

Thor looked at the blonde boy for a moment carefully. He certainly didn't bear any of the trademarks of his father whom Natasha had hated. In fact, he seemed rather quiet and was very polite. No doubt this was due to the workings of his mother who was raising him to be respectful and intelligent and thoughtful of those around him.

She seemed to be doing a fine job of it as well.

"That seems to be an excellent idea," he said and walked back to the patio where he sat down on the stone steps and turned to face the three four year olds who were clamoring excitedly about him.

"You go first Duddy," Hermione urged and the little blonde gave a determined nod and scrunched his blue eyes shut.

There was a sandbox in the backyard from where Hermione had played when she was two and there were still the odd toys in it.

It was a particular red plastic bucket that Dudley latched on to and with an effort, he stuck his hand out and gestured for it to come toward him.

The sand bucket rose into the air and slowly began to move its way a few inches above the ground toward the foursome.

Thor raised an eyebrow as the toy came toward the little blonde. Summoning things at four years of age was impressive for a human child. Natasha had told him about the human magicals and while they were nowhere near as powerful as full blooded Asgardians, they were above those who could do none at all, though only in some ways. Natasha was living prove that someone of magical blood could exist in both worlds.

"Well done," he said in his deep voice when the bucket landed unceremoniously in Dudley's hands and reached out to ruffle the boy's hair.

The little blonde went red as a tomato but smiled down at the bucket as if he had been presented with a free ice cream sundae.

"Your turn Harry," the strawberry blonde said then.

"Right," the dark haired four year old replied and looked around carefully for something he could use.

Upon spotting the little dump truck next to one of the patio chairs, he clenched his fists just like his cousin had done and screwed his eyes shut.

A few seconds later there was a decisive pop and all of them looked up to see that Harry had made the dump truck disappear from the patio and then reappear next to the fence.

Thor nodded approvingly. "Well done. You seem to have made great strides on your magic without help."

"Well Uncle Reg helps us when he's here. Mummy doesn't like us to do magic in the house though. She says we've broken too many of her plates," Dudley said a little sheepishly.

The god turned to Hermione and raised an eyebrow at her at the mention of the unknown name.

"Uncle Reg is going to marry Aunt Tuney," she explained. "He's going to be Harry and Duddy's new daddy."

Thor wanted to ask about what had happened to the whale of a man Vernon Dursley, who up until a point had occupied Privet Drive a few years earlier, but decided that he would ask Natasha later as he was sure that his disappearance had something to do with her.

He didn't think she would have killed him and buried him in the backyard as that wasn't really her style, but desperate times did call for desperate measures.

He shook his head, realizing he had become distracted and that the four year olds were staring at him curiously.

"Daddy can do magic too," Hermione pronounced proudly and immediately Thor had both Harry and Dudley's full attention.

"You can?" they asked in perfect unison.

He gave them a smirk, now beginning to understand what it was about children that people found so awe inspiring and so wonderful. They found such joy in simple repetitive things that even though he had lived for thousands of years, found could put his whole existence into perspective. He who had never married and didn't know what it was that caused people to go to such lengths for the young was now beginning to understand just what it meant.

The minute he had held Hermione in his arms at the hospital and she had smiled at him had made him feel so small, as if he was at the center of the universe and she was the only thing holding him in place.

Having three of them looking at him with such wonder….well…..it did put his existence into perspective.

"Very well," he said, suddenly feeling an out of character surge of excitement well up inside of him.

He held out the palm of his hand for them to see and they all leaned over it. "Watch closely."

Before doing this however, he made sure to silence the backyard so none around would be able to hear if there was any unnecessary noise.

Hermione, Harry and Dudley leaned even further in and gasped in surprise when a sparks of light began to emit from his hand.

Hermione wouldn't understand until later that her father could control the weather so when she looked up at the heavens and saw the sun immediately hidden by dark clouds she didn't understand what was going on.

The wind began to pick up and it blew the wind back from the cousins' faces so that the shock in their little green and blue eyes was visible.

There was a rumble from the sky causing all three children to look up at the clouds overhead in shock.

A shaft of light suddenly leapt from the clouds, connected with the bulb of the outdoor lamp by the back door of the house and sent a bolt of electricity into the back fence, blasting through it completely with a crash.

The three four year olds jumped and let out startled shrieks at what had happened while Thor smiled easily at their shock.

When the dust had settled and it appeared that no one was coming to check to see the source of the noise, the children breathed a sigh of relief before running over to check to see the damage.

"That was so cool!" Dudley exclaimed and the god inclined his head modestly.

Hermione examined the partially dismantled back fence with a critical eye. "I don't think Mummy's going to like this."

Thor thought of Natasha's reaction if she were here right now and was torn between grimacing and smirking at what he thought she would say.

"Then I suggest we make it so this never happened hmm?" he asked and then with a wave of his hand, the fence was immediately back the way it was. The clouds disappeared from overhead and immediately, the day was as bright and shiny as it was before.

Harry and Dudley had gone slack jawed at what they had seem. The fence had been torn down and was lying half on its side in the back garden, and then suddenly…..it was standing again and completely whole!

You must understand how this would look to a four year old. It was like….well it was like the greatest magic trick ever.

Hermione bounded back over to her father looking very proud and he smirked at her before he got down on her level.

"I told you," she said smirking at her best friends.

"But suppose we don't tell your mother about this hmm? She might worry and we don't want that," Thor said raising an eyebrow at her.

Hermione nodded somberly. "Yes daddy."

Thor inwardly grinned. Loki would say that he would make a trickster out of her yet.

The rest of the afternoon was spent helping the three of them work on their magic and how to make it stronger. Of course because Harry and Dudley's cores weren't developed much given that they were four years of age, there wasn't much they could do, however they had a work ethic not to give up that the god found very impressive.

He had been surprised when Natasha had told him on a previous visit about the use of wands on Midgard and he had initially thought she was jesting until she pulled out her own and showed it to him.

After that he had been horrified. To have to have one's ability to do magic tied to a piece of wood….would have been certifiably insane on Asgard.

After that incident, he had decided that he was going to teach his daughter how to use magic without the use of a tree,

But after seeing her friends show some proficiency in the discipline as well, he decided to instruct them too.

"Do you find it difficult to perform magic?" he asked and they nodded after a moment's hesitation.

"We always get tired after trying to do it," Harry explained, scrunching up his little face in frustration. "And sometimes it doesn't work."

Thor gave the three children a sly smile. "Suppose I were to teach you an easier way to do it?"

Three pairs of eyes went wide and three heads nodded like they were bobble headed dolls.

"What do we have to do Daddy?" Hermione asked.

She and Harry and Dudley were all standing around him at this point and Thor looked at each of them carefully.

"This will not be easy at first," he said so they would know that he was being serious. "But with time, you will be able to use magic as simply as if you were merely eating a meal."

If possible, the boys' eyes went even wider

"Firstly," the god began, "what you must do is close your eyes as distractions will not be helpful to you."

He watched as they all scrunched their eyes shut including Hermione and gave a private smile.

"One of the reasons the three of you are having so much difficulty casting your magic with efficiency is because there is something holding you back."

"What is it?" Harry asked.

"Around the magical core of each child and some adults there is a mental wall with only a few breaches in it to allow magic to pass through. Your accidental magic is what causes these breaches. This wall is the thing that is preventing you from accessing your magic fully. Most are not aware of it and become even less aware when they procure a wand for themselves. They forget about breaking this wall, and there will always be something that holds them back."

"How do we get rid of it daddy?" Hermione asked.

"Firstly what you need to do is find the wall. Focus on the greatest source of energy that is inside of you. Block out all other distractions and seek it out. When you become quiet, you will feel a vibration within yourself. Can you feel it?"

It didn't take very long for Hermione to feel the small tremor within her torso and little delighted gasp she gave almost had her best friends opening their eyes.

"I feel it daddy!" she exclaimed. "I feel it!"

"Well done Hermione," her father said with pride. "Now the last thing you need to do before breaking through that wall completely is to get rid of any unbelief."

"What do you mean?" the strawberry blonde asked.

"Little spark, you need to let go of any unbelief that you cannot do the magic that you think you can. Most of you believes that you can perform magic flawlessly. But there is still a small voice within you that questions it, am I correct?"

There was a moment of inaction before all three of them nodded glumly.

Thor looked at them and made contact with each one carefully. "Therein lies your barrier, you must destroy that belief, block it out, break down the wall piece by piece. The moment you do, you will know that you have achieved the destruction of the wall."

The strawberry blonde gave a determined nod and clenched her fists tighter than ever.

Harry and Dudley seemed to be having a bit more difficulty but Thor had expected them to.

Hermione was a demi-god so naturally she was a little more powerful than they were. Her magic would be a bit more mature because it was similar to his on a much smaller scale which made her more aware of it than they would be of theirs.

He was about to ask the boys if any progress had been made when all of a sudden, both Hermione and Harry gasped for air and a sudden gust of wind blew through the backyard nearly knocking the four year olds over.

The air became almost tangible and the heady scent of ozone began to permeate the atmosphere and the god gave a fierce smile.

"Daddy," Hermione whispered. "Daddy….I did it!"

"I….I think I did too!" Harry exclaimed.

Thor smiled, he had sensed Hermione's magic the most and knew she was going to be quite powerful once she began to mature.

He turned to Dudley who was looking quite glum.

It was obvious the small blonde hadn't found a way to break down his wall yet and the god could certainly sympathize. There were many Asgardians who still hadn't achieved complete destruction of their walls.

"Come here for a moment Dudley," he said and the little boy looked up in shock before shyly making his way over.

Thor reached out and tilted his chin up so he could look at him. "This is not a reason to be discouraged, do you understand?"

He nodded.

"You have found your core. There are many that I know that have not even performed such a feat as yet and you are merely four. Do not give up."

Dudley took a deep breath and nodded determinedly.

Hermione took the lead then and grabbed his hand. "Come on Dud, we'll help you."

"Yeah," Harry agreed, "we'll break it down in no time!"

Dudley started to smile and let the other two pull him away while Thor watched smirking. He had no doubt that all three of them were going to be very powerful.

Ω

So for the next few hours he taught them what he thought they could handle, summoning objects, banishing objects and even a little bit about how to create illusions.

Mind you, they didn't get to casting illusions in that minute as it would be very draining for a four year old, but he made sure they did understand the theory.

During that time, he discovered something interesting about his daughter.

Natasha had told him about the bouts of accidental magic she had been having, and during the time that Natasha had been called away to see Ivan, Thor learned that with some extensive practice, Hermione could control electricity as he did.

She wouldn't be able to influence weather patterns and create storms and channel her own lightning as he could, but then she wasn't a god.

But what it did mean was that she could influence the man made things that channeled electricity, for example, light bulbs, fuse boxes, and perhaps she would even have some control over the salt water of the oceans as it was an excellent conductor of electricity. Some precious metals such as gold and copper as well as bronze aluminum and silver would be at her disposal as well. She would never have trouble controlling the channeled electricity that mortals relied on.

While she couldn't control electricity in its rawest and most pure form like lightning, it was unlikely that she would be able to be hurt by it.

The amount of giggles that permeated the backyard and garden in the next few hours were something that the god would remember long after as something very special.

Mortals had such an effervescence about life, but perhaps that was because their own existences were so short and passed in the blink of an eye. Life was only precious for them because it ended.

Such thoughts called into question his daughter's and Natasha's own mortality, something that was going to make him increasingly concerned as time went on.

He knew it would take Natasha a while to age given the fact that she wasn't completely human herself, but she still would die.

If that wasn't enough to make him want to question his own existence he didn't know what would. He didn't even know if Hermione was mortal or not and would not know until she reached the age of eighteen as that was when females reached the completion of their maturity.

The next fourteen years were going to be very difficult for him.

It wasn't until mid to late afternoon when the sound of a voice from the other side of the fence could be heard, calling for Harry and Dudley.

"We're over here Uncle Reg!" Dudley called back recognizing the sound of his soon to be step father's voice. He had made some more progress on breaking down his wall and was beginning to feel a little better.

The wizard pulled open the gate in the fence and was about to call for the boys to come back over to wash up for dinner when he caught sight of the unfamiliar tall blonde and how the children were crowded about him with bright smiles on their faces and stopped.

At first he was a bit suspicious but then realized this must be Hermione's father.

Petunia had told him a little bit about the mysterious sire of the adorable little girl who was his soon to be son's best friend, but all he really knew was that he served in the military overseas somewhere.

But as soon as Regulus laid eyes on the tall blonde, he knew that couldn't possibly be true….or at the very least it couldn't be all the truth.

_There is no possible way this man is a Muggle, _Regulus thought as he took in the scene in the two second span before he spoke again.

He looked like a magic user, but he had an aura or presence about him that drew attention like a magnet. And not only because it wasn't fair for someone to possess that degree of physicality without making the rest of the male population look like complete barn yard animals in comparison.

This man had to be a magic user, but definitely one that was more powerful than any wizard the younger Black had ever seen.

"Hello," he said as he pushed the gate further open. "You must be Dan Granger. I'm Regulus Black, Petunia Dursley's fiancé."

Thor got up and shook his extended hand, a type of traditional greeting the mortals performed on Midgard and Regulus had to physically remind himself not to wince at the vice like grip.

Dan was clearly much stronger than that of the average man much to the disgruntlement of the younger Black and clearly very steady when it came to real life dangerous situations.

_He's spent years in the army! Of course nothing's going to faze him!_

"Did you just arrive?" he asked, decided that he might as well start a conversation so he could feel the man out.

No wonder Petunia had gotten a little flustered when she heard he was coming. He could certainly understand why at this point.

"A few hours ago," Thor replied cordially. "I left as soon as I heard the news."

He liked conversing with mortals as he found their thought processes and ways of speaking rather fascinating. They were an incredibly competitive bunch and when it came to observing something they couldn't compete with, they often grew surly and mean.

That didn't seem to be the case with Regulus though. He seemed to be the type of person who was quite sure of who he was and accepted his flaws and strengths whole heartedly. He also seemed to have experienced quite a bit of hardship in his life if the sorrow hidden carefully behind his eyes was any indication.

He did remember that Natasha had told him the night before that Regulus had been in a coma for about a year.

In the meantime, Harry, Dudley and Hermione had become bored with the conversation their respective fathers were having and decided to practice their magic again and help Dudley with his wall breaking.

It was slowly becoming easier for the three of them to banish and summon objects and Hermione could do it even faster than they could.

Thankfully Harry and Dudley didn't seem to notice as they were too enamoured with the fact that performing magic was so much easier now.

All of a sudden, a rush of wind swept through the backyard and Dudley let out an excited squeal.

"I did it! I did it!" he cried out. "I broke down my wall!"

Thor and Regulus looked up from the conversation in surprise. The latter had been asking about the elements of the Muggle military which Thor had been calmly explaining the details of and so they had only been half paying attention to the youngsters.

Well at least Regulus had been.

Since the blonde's peripheral vision was incredibly pronounced, it was almost like having eyes in the back of his head, he didn't need to keep his physical eyes on the children in order to know what was going on.

And so, the minute the wind had blown through the backyard he knew what was going on.

"What do you mean Dudley?" Regulus asked in confusion. "What wall?"

The small blonde bounded over with Hermione and Harry in tow. "The wall that Mr. Granger told me about that was around my core and didn't let me to do magic without getting tired. He said we had to break it down and I did it!"

Regulus was looking even more confused at this point, but Thor understood what the small blonde was talking about.

He bent down and made eye contact with the boy. "Excellent work Dudley. Would you like to see how it works now?"

The small blonde nodded eagerly and turned toward the back patio of the house with Hermione and Harry waiting eagerly.

Unfortunately, in his haste to showcase what it was he could do, he chose an item to summon that was beyond his ability to stop completely because he didn't know how.

And because he wanted to impress his step father and friends, Dudley called for one of the potted plants.

With his enthusiasm, the clay pot that was almost as tall as he was, came flying toward him at such a speed that he wouldn't have been able to get out of the way in time.

Regulus made a startled sound and plunged his hand into his pocket for his wand. He had only succeeded in pulling it halfway out of his pocket however when the potted plant that was only an inch away from Dudley stopped in midair and everyone looked in surprise at Thor who had a hand out and had stopped the thing from touching the little boy.

He had shot out his hand, palm forward and stopped the movement of the potted plant a few inches from the four year old who was staring at it in shock.

He tilted his hand downward and immediately the pot dropped to the earth with a wet plop.

There was a moment of silence where Dudley and the other two just stared at it wide eyed and Regulus opened and closed his mouth, both at what his step son had done and what Hermione's father was clearly capable of doing.

In the meantime, the tall blonde crouched down so he was now eye height with Dudley.

"Well done," he said somberly. "But one of the first things you must learn when unleashing your magic for the first time, is your limit. Know how much you can take on before you undertake a task. You do not want to hurt yourself. Do you understand?"

Dudley nodded, still wide eyed from what had just done and Hermione and Harry were looking up at Thor in disbelief, something Regulus was also trying not to do.

"Excellent," Thor said straightening up. "Then perhaps it is time for you two to go home now. Practice what you've learned but be careful alright?"

Harry and Dudley nodded wordlessly and Regulus quickly thanked Thor for keeping an eye on them before ushering both boys back through the gate to the house.

He knew he had a lot of thinking to do.

Ω

"So I had an…..interesting encounter with Hermione's father today," Regulus said tentatively.

It was after dinner and he was helping Petunia put the dishes away after she had washed them.

The boys were sitting in the living room with Sirius and educating him about the shows there were on television while his brother and soon to be sister in law were in the kitchen.

"You did?" Petunia asked looking a little startled as she put a plate back in the cupboard. "What did he say?"

Regulus scratched his head. "Well…..nothing really. We just introduced ourselves and he explained a bit about the Muggle military to me. But Tuney…..your hunches were spot on. He is a magic user."

"I knew it!" Petunia exclaimed and lowered her voice quickly after that, glancing in the direction of the living room. She turned back to her fiancé.

"I had a feeling from the moment I talked to him when Emma…..Natasha was in the hospital the first time that he wasn't completely human either."

"And it turned out your hunches were correct, because while he does have magic, he's completely unlike any wizard I've ever seen."

Petunia frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well for starters, he is proficient in both wandless and non-verbal magic."

Her frown deepened. "Is that a good thing?"

Regulus blinked at her for two seconds before he remembered that Petunia was a Muggle and the different ways that one could perform magic didn't mean as much to her as it did to him.

"It's not so much a question of it being a good thing, it's more or less the fact that I've never met someone who could do that."

"Really? Being able to use magic without a wand is rare?"

"It's incredibly rare Tuney!" Regulus burst out before he remembered himself and lowered his voice.

"Not only is it incredibly difficult, but the energy it produces is sporadic and you can't completely control it. I've never learned of any technique when I was in school that was helpful in the discipline and from what I understood, someone had to be naturally gifted at it in order for it to work."

"So maybe he is naturally gifted at it," Petunia suggested, still not completely understanding why this was a big deal for her fiancé.

"No Tuney, you're still not understanding," Regulus said. He wanted the blonde to understand the shock he had felt upon hearing that Hermione's father was probably one of the most powerful individuals he had ever met.

"In order to be able to perform wandless and wordless magic, your physical makeup as a human being and as a witch or wizard needs to be _completely _different. All witches and wizards have a magical core that allows them to produce magic and it is from this thing that all magic streams from. There is the belief that Muggles have a magical core as well but that it is too small to be functional. Witches and wizards have a larger core than Muggles so it allows them to perform magic. Once they receive a wand the magic of their core aligns with the core of the wand and allows them to perform magic. But they can only do it with the help of a wand."

Petunia nodded, she was pretty sure she knew where Regulus was going with this. "And if you don't have the core of a wand to align with your own core, than you can't perform magic?"

"That's pretty much it," Regulus agreed. "So in order to be able to perform wandless and wordless magic, you don't employ the use of a core. The ability to perform magic is in your blood. And the last person who had the ability to do that was Merlin!"

Petunia raised an eyebrow.

Merlin and the legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table had been a myth throughout history but it was obvious that witches and wizards had found a way to wiggle that piece of magic into Muggle history.

"Well…..are there different type of witches and wizards?" she asked slowly.

Regulus frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, and this is to use as an example. Natasha is a genetically altered super human right?"

He nodded.

"And therefore there are thing that she can do that are not possible for regular human beings like myself, like healing faster than normal, having insane animal like reflexes and seeing farther than 20/20 vision can allow you. It's possible for her to be like that isn't it?"

"Well…..yes."

"So maybe Dan's just like a wizard squared."

"I beg your pardon?" Regulus asked, completely not understanding the mathematical phrase.

"Sorry, Muggle metaphor. It means basically he has multiplied power unlike you and Sirius who are normal for wizards."

She thought she had done a terrible job explaining it, but Regulus actually seemed to be considering the idea.

"I suppose that possible," he said finally. "I've never heard of something like that before, but up until a week ago, I'd never heard of a genetically altered super human either. I'll have to do some research."

"Or you know, you could just ask Natasha. I'm sure she would be happy to tell you," Petunia said, deciding that honesty would be the best policy.

"I could," Regulus mused. "But with all the secrets that have been revealed this past week, do you really think she would tell me?"

It hadn't surprised him when Natasha told them that Emma had been a cover name for when she fled Russia when she became pregnant with Hermione. He had been amazed that she had been able to keep a secret like that for four years and not leave any holes in her cover.

The only time he began to wonder if she wasn't who she said she was, was the time she gone with him to break Siri out of prison. He had never seen someone able to fight like that but when she had told him it was because of training in an advanced branch of the Muggle Military he had bought it because getting his brother out of prison had been the most important thing.

It wouldn't surprise him to find out that Petunia's friend was keeping some important secret about Hermione's father either.

He wouldn't realize until later just how right he had been.

Ω

As Natasha covered Hermione over with the blanket that night, she gave a sigh of relief, uncommonly glad to see her daughter.

She turned to find Thor standing by the door of the room with the light of the hall at his back and gave him a half smile.

Ivan had discovered the place where she had been held along with a few vials of liquid that had been spilled on the floor and their scientists had managed to analyze it and declare it a new biological weapon that was putting the whole of the Secret Service on high alert.

She hated lying to her father, but there was no way in hell she could disclose the origins of Hermione's father or that he was the one who had arrived to help rescue them.

She had covered it up well enough so that Ivan wouldn't think that she was lying, but that rune that had been left in the floor from when Thor had appeared would be difficult to lie about so she simply said that that hadn't been there when she had escaped with Hermione.

She had questioned the blonde about the sigil when she had arrived back at the house, but he said that the mark of a god was something that would be left on Midgard forever. He had never been able to remove those types of marks much as he tried and he was sure people would have noticed the ones he had left in Russia and in America when he had been there last. Even the one in their backyard would be difficult to get rid of but the most he had been able to do was cause things to grow on top of it so it wouldn't be that visible to those who wouldn't be looking for it.

Natasha had grumbled about it but decided that the only thing they could do about such things was to play dumb and hope that they would be forgotten about.

He had also told her of his interesting conversation with Regulus Black that afternoon and how he seemed surprised at the display of wandless magic.

Natasha shut the door to Hermione's room and turned to face him as he was waiting in the hallway.

"It seems she had quite a fun day today," she said and he smirked.

"I think I am beginning to fully comprehend what it is about children that holds the older ones so in thrall. Even the mundane and ordinary is exciting for them."

Natasha smirked and the two headed back downstairs to the living room.

"How long do you think you'll be able to stay?" she asked. It had been nearly three days already. He had never stayed so long before but she was beginning to worry about whether or not someone had discovered that he was missing.

"Not too much longer" he replied. "Though as I have told you, time on Asgard moves slower than time here so it would only appear that I have been gone for a day. Odin will not have taken notice of my absence as of yet."

"Good."

"However, there is something you should know of the magic of our daughter," he said as they sat down on the couch."

"What is that?"

They had taken the quiet times when Hermione was asleep to simply get to know each other better and see if they had similar interests.

Thor had told her all about Asgard and the many different realms and strange creatures that lived on each. Whenever he talked about his home a strange softness always seemed to come into his eyes.

It was easy for her to see that he loved the place very much and that as much as he loved his daughter, Midgard would never be his home.

That was a testament to how much he cared for them that he stayed as long as he did.

"She is more powerful than I dared think," he said and ominous words made her sit up and take notice.

"What do you mean?"

A shadow came over his handsome face. "I mean her power is very much like mine except on a smaller scale. She will not be able to control storms or the weather patterns of this world as I can. But the structures that channel electricity as well the electricity that is harnessed by mankind itself will be hers to command."

Natasha thought back on what had happened while they were being held hostage and remembered Hermione screaming as the lightning had leapt from the fuse boxes and light bulbs around the warehouse and electrocuting every scientist around her.

"There's something I need to know then," she said. "If what Hermione did can be considered accidental magic, why didn't it kick in earlier when she was being threatened?"

"Because that is one other thing that my daughter and I share," Thor explained, a faraway look coming into his eyes. "Her magic is tied to her instincts and not her emotions. So it will not be unleashed if she is afraid like it will for those of her friends. However, when someone she loves is in danger as you were, she will react. In that regard her magic is more mature than that of Harry and Dudley. She can concentrate on it to save certain people. That is a feature that is tied to my power as well. She is familial oriented as I am so her magic will be that much more potent when she wants to rescue someone she loves."

Natasha wasn't sure what she thought of that. She hoped it wouldn't lead to a lack of self-preservation on her daughter's part because that was the last thing she wanted and she said so.

"If we begin the process of teaching her to harness and use it, there will be few that can stand in her way," Thor explained.

The red head got the feeling he was distinctly pleased by this news and the reason for that would be revealed in time.

"That's all well and good," she replied. "But although I am a witch, I am first and foremost a mother and as agent, I don't know how to teach her to harness her electrical powers."

"Well than that is where I come in," Thor said and she could tell he had been waiting for her to ask.

She raised an eyebrow. "I mean no offense by this, but you are not here every day. Isn't something like this the kind of thing that requires constant attention?"

"I had considered that possibility," he said and she could tell he had put a considerable amount of thought into this. "Yet in order for these abilities to appear, someone she cares for must be in danger which was why it manifested itself when you were held hostage. She will need instruction on how to bring it out. And that is something that will not happen every day."

"Suppose it does though?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Natasha you worry far too much, living for thousands of years has taught me that one cannot worry about what might happen because life will carry on regardless. I would not be anxious about this incessantly. I have the utmost faith in our daughter and the power she possesses. She is young but there is an intelligence she has as well as a strength that comes from her Asgardian side that will mature her as the years go by. Everything will be alright."

Natasha sighed and did something she never thought she would do previously. She leaned down and rested a head against his shoulder while he put an arm around her. As before, being in that place increased the security that she had both about her and him.

They made a good team, her and Thor, and now that they had a daughter, they were both doubly united.

"I certainly hope you're right," she said.

Ω

Since the beach wedding idea turned out to be a bust given what had happened and Petunia didn't really want a big ceremony after the whole Vernon fiasco, she decided that she was just going to have Regulus turn the backyard into something pretty with magic and they would have the ceremony there in early May.

Harry and Dudley were to be the two ring bearers and walk down the aisle after Hermione as the flower girl had scattered the rose petals on the grass, and Petunia and Regulus would join hands under an arch way of flowers.

Thor already knew he wouldn't be able to be there for such an occasion as he was unable to stay for more than a week and that was pushing it.

But a time was set up for dinner and the following morning after Thor had first met Harry and Dudley, he took the three children to the park. Harry and Dudley of course were ecstatic. They hadn't been able to stop talking about how much Hermione's daddy looked like a super hero and now that they knew he was a wizard too, it only elevated his position in their eyes.

Regulus and Sirius had some business to attend to at the DMLE that morning but promised that they would be back in time for dinner that evening.

Natasha hadn't been called by Ivan to come back in for questioning and she had been given the week off to recuperate from her ordeal, but in reality, she would have only needed maybe two or three days.

Her gunshot wound was already healing and she felt pretty rested after a three day hostage situation, but Ivan had insisted that she rest.

So here she was, sitting in Petunia's back garden with her friend sipping on lemonade enjoying at the air got warmer.

"There was something I wanted to ask you," the blonde asked and Natasha raised an eyebrow at her.

"And that is?"

"Regulus met Dan for the first time the other day and he mentioned that he noticed a few….odd thing about him."

Natasha's eyebrows rose even higher. "What sort of odd things?"

Petunia sighed and figured that she better get right down to it if she was going to get anywhere.

"Em…..Natasha, Dan's a wizard we know…..but Regulus seems to think that its highly odd that he can do wandless magic."

Natasha nodded, glad she had prepared for such an eventuality. After Petunia had met Thor the first time, she had begun working on her story of what was acceptable to tell the blonde about him without it being too much.

"What are you trying to ask me Tuney?" she asked and the blonde squirmed uncomfortably.

Now that she knew what her friend was and what she was capable of and a little more about her past, it somehow made her doubly intimidating because of who Natasha was.

Somehow the red head picked up on it.

"Tuney, I hope you know that just because you know that truth doesn't mean that things have to change. I'm just a little more different than you expected, maybe a little more dangerous. That doesn't bother you does it?"

The blonde paused. "Of course not. I'm just not used to knowing someone who had so many secrets."

"That what is it you want to know?" Natasha asked getting straight to the point.

"Is Dan…..like you, I mean I know you and him had the same occupation and I know he's a wizard, but he's not like you or Regulus when it comes to magic is he?"

Natasha made sure that her friend was looking straight in her eyes when she answered her this time.

"No, he's not like me or Regulus or Sirius when it comes to magic."

Petunia nodded but Natasha could tell that she was bursting with questions.

"I suppose a bit of an explanation is in order," she said before the blonde could raise any more independent questions, and Petunia settled back in her chair with a huff that her friend was always able to read her mind.

"I met Dan when about five years ago in Russia. He was from a different division of the undercover governmental branch but we were both sleeper agents. He ended up partnering with me on an assignment in Thailand and we discovered that we had a great many things in common.

"After the assignment had concluded he requested a transfer to my divisional branch and we continued to work together. He became my full time partner and we married about a year later in secret."

"Why in secret?" the blonde asked frowning.

"Think about it Tuney," Natasha replied. "We were highly trained assassins whose primary duty was to our government and country, any other type of relationship outside of work was strictly taboo. At best we might have been expelled from the division and at worst, we might have been killed in an "unfortunate accident."

The blonde's eyes went wide at the implications she was drawing. "Then why take such a risk as to marry?"

Natasha thought about the many conversations she and Thor had had since she had met him four years earlier. Although she hadn't wanted to admit it there was a lot that they had in common and she had reached a point in her bizarre relationship with him where if she ever were going to see someone romantically, he was the only one she could see herself doing it with. Settling down would never be in her agenda until she grew old enough that she wasn't able to fight anymore, which wouldn't happen for a while.

He was an adventure. A crazy wild adventure that was full of strange powers, disturbing fights and running from the authorities, but it was one she had grown used to and one she was pretty sure she wouldn't want to give up.

"What was the feeling you got when you realized that Regulus was the one you wanted to spend the rest of your life with Tuney?" she asked and the blonde blinked in surprise.

"It was one of complete…..oneness," she said after a moment. "I just had this feeling of utter surety that I would be happy with him and nothing else I would do would ever be enough to fill the whole that he did."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at her and Petunia nodded in understanding. "Ahh…..I see."

"That was the feeling I had," Natasha said quietly.

It wasn't completely untrue, she was just coming to the realization of this surety that she had with him a little bit later than she was telling her friend.

"So you married in secret then?" Petunia asked, prompting Natasha to go on.

"Yes, we went on assignment to Poland and found a small inconspicuous church there where we gave the priest fake names and he married us in a very private very fast ceremony. Essentially there was just the two of us and him in the church."

"And then?"

"Then we completed the assignment and returned to Russia as if nothing had happened. We had to be very careful in the next few years to make sure we weren't caught and often times that meant spending most of our nights apart."

Petunia got a sympathetic look on her face but Natasha inwardly smirked. She didn't feel inherently bad and some of what she was telling Petunia was true, just in a different way than she would expect.

"About four years ago, we were sent on assignment to America and that was where Hermione was conceived."

Petunia's eyes opened wide. "But I thought you two tried to avoid that kind of thing?"

Natasha smirked and raised an eyebrow at her friend. "Petunia…..have you seen Dan. You don't think that was really possible for the two of us do you?"

The blonde turned bright red and stared down at her hands. "I just thought it would have been difficult for your two to spend a lot of time together."

"We find time," Natasha said smirking. She was recalling that one night they spent together in America before things got so crazy and her smirk widened.

It had been one hell of a night. Her memory was pretty good so she still remembered every touch, every sensation, every kiss to the fullest extent of its ability to be recalled and the heating of her stomach reminded her that her body remembered it too.

"When we got back to Russia he was suddenly recalled by his former agency. He promised to keep in touch and left. It was a few weeks later that I found out I was pregnant."

Petunia's already wide eyes went even wider. "Then what happened?"

"I went to see one of the medical experts on the base to see what was wrong as it's not really likely that I would be pregnant given the serums and surgeries I had taken when I was first recruited to join. He promised he would keep the results a secret and notify Dan if he ever saw him again before he destroyed the evidence. I sent a message to Dan and then called Ivan so he could put me here and we hauled ass from Russia."

_I feel like I'm listening to either the most romantic version of Russia with love, or the most bizarre, _Petunia thought.

"He found me a few months later," Natasha went on, "but I told him we needed to go about our lives as normally as possible so we wouldn't be found out. He agreed to go back to work for his division but requested a transfer to a less active branch of the Muggle Military that we were affiliated with. His request was accepted and so instead of being a sleeper agent for the last four years, he's been a….soldier."

Petunia didn't seem to notice this pause for which the red head was grateful.

"So he still serves with the Muggle Military?" Petunia asked.

"Yes."

The blonde squirmed a little, and Natasha got the feeling there was more that she wanted to say.

"What is it?"

"Nothing," Petunia said twisting her hands together, "it's just…..what about his magical affiliations. Regulus told me he saw him performing wandless magic with the kids yesterday and apparently things like that are very hard to do. Dan isn't a traditional magic user is he?"

Natasha smiled and shook her head. "No he's not."

"Well then who – "

"Tuney do you remember a few years ago when Harry first came to stay with us all of the children were one at the time?"

"Yes."

"And do you also remember us needing to do some research on how to raise three magical children without making any kind of terrible mistakes yes?"

The blonde frowned. "I do."

"And thirdly do you remember us going to Diagon Alley and purchasing some books from the store there about magical children and how to raise them as well as history of magic books?"

"Again, yes, but I don't see your point."

"My point is that I didn't fully understand who Dan was or what he could do until I found a description in one of those books that told me. Dan is a mage."

"A what now?"

Natasha rubbed her hands together and leaned forward in the chair. "A mage Tuney. It's a type of very powerful wizard who ages more slowly than the rest of us witches or wizards. They can extract magical as well as physical energy from the four elements, transport themselves long distances and heal as well as kill in the blink of an eye."

She had talked over her idea of what to tell Petunia and Regulus and Sirius last night with Thor when he had told her of Regulus's surprise of what he could do and he explained that this was the best way to tell them the truth without ever really mentioning that he was a god. After all gods were far more powerful than mages.

Petunia blinked for a minutes, took a sip of her lemonade and had to swallow a few times before she was sure she could speak again. "And how on earth did Dan become affiliated with the Muggle military if he's so powerful?"

"That is not my story to tell," Natasha said, effectively shutting that part of the conversation down. "I wouldn't feel right about sharing something that wasn't my business to say."

Petunia nodded sagely, a little disappointed that she hadn't learned everything about the exciting past of her friend. "I do have one more question though."

"And what's that?"

"His name. Since your real name isn't Emma but Natasha….am I correct in assuming that Dan isn't his real name either?"

Natasha began to smirk because she knew that her friend was smarter than she gave her credit for. "No….you would be correct…..Dan isn't his real name."

"And you can't tell me what it is can you?"

The red head shook her head. "No I can't. It was my choice to tell you what my real name is, but whether or not he tells you his real name is up to him. I won't betray that trust."

"Okay then," the blonde said leaning back in her chair. "God, I didn't think that I would ever encounter a friend who had this many secrets before."

_Tuney, if you really knew me…..you would know that these secrets are only the tip of the iceberg of what I am truly hiding._

Ω

Petunia didn't know why she was so nervous that evening as she set the plates and forks about the table.

Dan and the children had returned from the park and Harry and Dudley were full to bursting with excitement. They seemed to have taken quite a liking to Hermione's father and Petunia wasn't sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

At the moment, they were upstairs, washing and changing their clothes from play and Regulus had apparated home to see about some business and retrieve his brother before coming back and engaging in dinner with the rest of them.

After Natasha had left with her husband and daughter to return home to freshen up, it suddenly reminded the blonde that she had to spend the evening in the presence of someone who was a magical and whose mere word of mouth made her ridiculously tongue tied.

_Get it together Petunia, _she reprimanded herself. _There aren't any secrets anymore. Dan is a mage, a very powerful one whose presence is intended to draw people to him. It's not as if you can help yourself. Just do your best not to act like an idiot and you'll be fine._

Easier said than done.

There was a roar from the fireplace and Petunia hurried in the direction of the living room to

find her fiancé and his brother stepping out of the green flames and shaking dust and ashes off of their clothes.

After they had gotten engaged, Regulus had suggested that they hook up Petunia's old fireplace to the floo network so they wouldn't be so disconnected from the wizarding world as they had once been.

When Petunia had shown Regulus and Sirius the letter that Dumbledore had left with Harry when he had dropped him off on her doorstep in the middle of the night, both wizards cursed him to the depths of hell.

It turned out that Sirius had known of a prophecy regarding Harry and about the Dark Lord Voldemort which was the reason that the Potters had gone into hiding and he had told Petunia that Harry was the one in the prophecy meaning that he would be the one to bring down Voldemort.

When Petunia heard this, she hated the meddling old man even more and determined that her nephew wasn't going to be the pawn of this crack pot old fool. He already knew about magic and so was going to learn about that school way ahead of time.

"How was your day?" she asked giving Regulus and kiss and Sirius a hug.

"You would not believe the mess our parents made of the Black assets before they died Tuney," Sirius explained as he returned her hug and she took their coats to hang in the hall closet.

Since Sirius had been released from prison, the media circus had been insane surrounding the Black brothers and they rarely left the house and the only time they did so was under disillusionment charms to get to Gringotts and back.

Other than that, the only time the two of them got a moments peace was when they went out in the Muggle world.

The both of them were still adjusting to wearing Muggle clothes, but Regulus did say that it was a lot more light weight than the traditional robes.

Petunia led them back to the kitchen and handed them a glass of wine before the boys came downstairs.

"Now Natasha and Dan and Hermione aren't here yet, but I did have an…..interesting conversation with her this afternoon," Petunia said as she bent to take the lasagne out of the oven and put it on a hot plate she had set out.

"And what was that?" Sirius asked.

He was the only one who hadn't met Hermione's father and was a little curious about the man. After all, there weren't many women who could resist the Black charm and the fact that Natasha had done so with gusto and completely smooth disdain made him wonder what kind of man it was that could catch her eye.

The only explanation he had gotten from Petunia was that he was incredibly good looking, but that could mean any number of things.

Petunia sighed and wiped off his hands before giving the two of them her full attention. "Natasha told me that Dan….is a mage."

Regulus choke on the sip of wine he had taken and nearly spit it out and Sirius stared at the blonde in shock.

"That's impossible," he said. "Mages haven't been seen since the time of the Founders. When the last great battle of Hogwarts was fought, all of the Founders and the mages that had survived put their magic together and wrought about the Cover of Secrecy. It shielded Hogwarts from the entire world and wiped the idea of magic from the minds of the Muggles completely. After that, the rest of the Mages went into hiding. The last one was apparently Salazar Slytherin. None of them have been seen since. It was thought they had all died out."

"Apparently not," Regulus muttered in surprise.

He probably should have guessed it, seeing the completely unconscious display Dan had done the other day, but he hadn't.

What an interesting life Natasha had led.

She was a highly trained assassin for the Russian government, had worked with and married a mage, had a daughter with him who now might be twice as powerful as her two best friends.

He blinked as he came to this realization. Maybe that was why it wasn't as difficult for Hermione to perform magic as it had been for Harry and Dudley at first.

He had no sooner finished the frame of thought however when there came a knock on the door and Petunia nearly dropped the oven mitt in surprise.

"Oh gracious, they're here. Look, all we have to do is act natural, and Siri, for the love of God, please don't do anything stupid," she said as she whipped off her apron and hustled for the front door.

"When have I ever done anything stupid?" Sirius protested as his soon to be sister in law hurried from the kitchen.

The blonde took a deep breath and pulled the door open. She was nearly knocked over when a small strawberry blonde hurled herself into her arms screaming, "Aunt Tuney!"

Petunia released her hold on the door knob and hugged the little girl close.

It was hard to put into words how glad she was that the little girl was alright and that they were both back safe and sound.

The last few days hadn't been very easy not knowing how she was. Hermione was practically her niece, she had known her since she was born and they were pretty much family. Petunia had been a nervous wreck when she learned what had almost happened.

When she had set the little girl down and she had run upstairs to get Harry and Dudley, Petunia got to her feet and gave Natasha a one armed hug before turning to her husband.

Dan gave her a truly disarming smile. "Hello Petunia, its nice to see you again."

"You…..you too," the blonde said, glad she hadn't stammered too much.

They headed down to the kitchen where Petunia introduced a very surprised Sirius to Dan and thus commenced one of the more interesting evenings that the five adults had ever had. Well for three of them at least.

Natasha had been a little unsure of how the evening would commence given the fact that aside from Stefan she had never seen how Thor acted around other humans since he so obviously wasn't one.

But she had also forgotten the fact that he was a god and since he conversed with them on a regular basis, the only ways in which the two different were in terms of power.

Finally the children came downstairs and when Harry and Dudley saw Thor, they ran straight towards him.

"Mr. Granger!" Dudley said excitedly. "Mione didn't tell us you were coming!"

"We've been practising our magic like you told us!" Harry seconded.

Sirius shot an odd look at his brother and Petunia, but they ignored him.

"Have you?" the god asked, bending down so that he was eye level with them. "And how has it been going?"

"Good!" Dudley replied, his eyes sparkling with excitement. "I summoned the couch cushion last night and one of Mom's dishes this morning. Watch!"

He was about to summon one of the plates to him when Petunia slammed the kitchen cupboard shut and glared at him.

"Not before dinner," she said glaring down at her son. "Between you and Harry it's a wonder that I have any dishes left to break. And what did I tell you about no magic in the house?"

"Yes Mum."

"Yes Aunt Petunia."

"Good, now please go and wash your hands, we'll be having dinner in a few minutes."

The three of them nodded and dashed out of the kitchen.

Petunia took a deep breath and set the lasagne on the already perfectly set table.

"Let's eat."

Ω

Natasha wasn't sure she was liking how Thor was continuing to surprise her.

He had already spoken with Petunia a few times before Regulus and Sirius came into the picture but it was shocking her how easily he seemed to converse with people.

_I wonder if he's spent more time on earth then that one isolated incident that he previously told me about, _she wondered as she watched him out of the corner of her eye around the table.

Thankfully, the three four year olds kept everyone's attention occupied with their lip smacking gusto of the lasagne.

Petunia seemed to be keeping her nerves in check as Natasha knew she had a difficult time being completely calm around Thor.

Surprisingly, Sirius had taken the lead when it came to conversation and when it was brought up that he had been in prison and that Natasha and Regulus had broken him out before they had managed to get him a trial, Thor sat forward looking interested.

"Is that so?" he said glancing at his "wife." "You never told me about such things."

Natasha shrugged and gave him a smirk. "It never came up."

Truth was, she had kind of forgotten about it. It had happened around six months ago and she hadn't seen him in about two years so it wasn't like she had gotten the opportunity.

"How on earth did you manage to do that?" he asked, addressing the next question at Regulus who had loosened up a little since they had arrived.

"Truthfully, it was completely Natasha's idea," Regulus replied. "She convinced me that if we were going to break Siri out of prison then we would have to do it the Muggle way and break down the door and go in guns blazing."

"I do wish I could say that that isn't completely unsurprising," Thor replied. "But I unfortunately I know her far too well for that."

Petunia chuckled behind her hand and threw her friend an amused glance which the brunette ignored.

Regulus continued to tell Thor about the tale of how they had broken Sirius out of prison with his older brother filling in the blanks with what he forgot and as Natasha watched the god out of the corner of her eye, she was a little surprised at the easy smile on his face.

Thor rather liked the two mortals. Natasha had told him that most of her friends were magical like her, but the two Black brothers were rather amusing to talk to because their back and forth in a way reminded him of himself and Loki.

They didn't always agree but they did know each other, and they were both very devoted to their families.

At least Thor was pretty sure he knew his brother well enough. There was only so much you could know about someone who practically was secrets and lies.

That issue ironically would come up again later.

The night carried on and it was one of enjoyable conversation and untold stories as well as intricate descriptions of the magical world there on earth for which Thor seemed very curious.

Regulus and Sirius were all too eager to tell him descriptions of Hogwarts. He knew something of the place, but only what Natasha had told him. He seemed particularly interested in descriptions of the different houses.

"I wonder what house Harry and Dudley will be in," Petunia mused.

"It'll be Gryffindor of course," Sirius said.

"I definitely think Slytherin," Regulus said at the same time.

They paused and looked at each other and Natasha could almost see that this was a bone of contention between them. She did remember Regulus telling her when they were preparing for Sirius's trial that he had been a Slytherin while Sirius had been a Gryffindor.

Before an argument could ensue though, Thor chose that moment to break in and ask a question.

"Why does there seem to be such a distinction or rivalry if you will between these two houses?" he asked. "Are not both of a noble lineage?"

Sirius and Regulus looked at him for a long moment.

"Yes," they replied.

"And are not both perfectly respectable?"

"I suppose," Sirius said although it did appear that it pained him to say it.

"The only reason Siri dislikes Slytherin is because there was a wizard by the name of Tom Riddle who was in Slytherin during his time at Hogwarts and he rose to prominence as a Dark Wizard and killed a great deal of wizards and witches as well as Muggles," Regulus replied.

"How can you be so calm about mass murder?" Sirius burst out.

Before Regulus could respond, Thor spoke up again.

"Who is to be the judge on what is light or dark magic? Is not the opinion on all things subjective?"

They both turned to him with blank looks on their faces and he could tell that they had never contemplated such a notion before.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked.

Thor folded his hands in front of him. "Give me an example of something that you think is dark magic."

The brothers exchanged glances before nodding at each other.

"Blood magic was seen as something that entirely questionable in school," Sirius supplied.

"You certainly didn't think so when I was able to get those clues from it after Natasha and Hermione disappeared a week ago," Regulus shot back.

"I believe I can settle at least one aspect of this argument," Thor put in before they could start fighting again. "Hermione?"

"Yes Daddy?" the little strawberry blonde asked looking up from her lasagne with the fork that was much too big for her.

"Would you mind giving me your hand for a moment?"

The little blonde looked at him for a moment and then slowly reached her hand out toward him with a look that was a cross between Loki and her mother.

"What are you going to do?" she asked.

Thor simply smiled at her and when she had placed her hand in the palm of his big one, he waved his hand over it in a circular motion before tapping it once with the tip of his finger and to the surprise of everyone present, Natasha included, a drop of red blood emerged before the skin closed up underneath.

Before his daughter could even say anything, Thor swept the drop into his palm and set her hand back down.

"That didn't hurt at all," she said in wonderment.

"It was not meant to," Thor assured her and then the rest of them concentrated on the small drop of blood that was now in his hand.

"What are you going to do?" Sirius asked.

Thor didn't reply and then once more to the shock of all gathered, he tossed the drop into the air, where it hung suspended above the center of the table.

Then he further surprised them when he seized the two ends of the drop of blood and pulled it apart so it now appeared as if they were looking through a dull red semi translucent window.

"Dear Merlin," Sirius whispered.

It got even weirder after that.

Thor then proceeded to reach his hand inside the elongated dull red window and pull out a thread of gold.

"Mummy?" Hermione asked in a hushed whisper. "What's Daddy doing?"

"I….I don't know Natasha replied. It was very often that she was surprised to the point where she didn't have anything to say but now was one of those times.

Harry and Dudley's forks had clattered to their plates but for once Petunia didn't have anything to say about the noise because she was too in shock about what was going on.

Thor held up the golden thread very gently between his two fingers that they could all see it.

"Human DNA is fascinating," he said. "For in it, we can see the genetic aspects that make a person who they are biologically. Humans without magic would not have access to such things as DNA is too small for them to see. In this way, magic has a unique advantage because it allows us to see things that we never would have thought possible."

With a slap he clapped his hands closed and the thread of gold vanished before he opened it again and in the space between his hands, they could all see what appeared to be a series of images playing out, certain genetic features of Hermione that had everyone speechless with awe.

Finally, Thor slapped his hand closed again and the images disappeared to the disappointment of everyone.

He looked carefully at the two Black brothers who were looking rather shell shocked.

"Now tell me," he said quietly. "If such a thing as that is possible through blood magic that it allows us to see life in a truly unique way….can it truly be evil?"

No one had anything to say to that and Petunia had to physically remind herself to close her jaw.

Natasha herself made a mental note to remember to ask Thor later where on earth he had learned a spell like that.

She was under no illusions that she would be able to do it though. Magic like that could only be performed by a god.

The silence was ironically broken when Harry leaned over to his cousin and whispered, "See Duddy? I told you he was a super hero."

Petunia didn't realize she had been holding her breath the whole time and let it out in a breathless laugh. Soon everyone else joined in, but there was no disguising the look of undisclosed adoration in Hermione's eyes.

She wanted to be just like her father.

Ω

The following morning, Hermione's smile wasn't her most prominent feature and the reason for that was her father's news that he was leaving.

He explained that he needed to return to Asgard before it was discovered by her grandmother and grandfather that he had gone missing. He told her that her uncle Loki was covering for him, but he couldn't do it for much longer and it wouldn't be good if they discovered why he had gone.

He didn't tell her why though, even though she had asked and she didn't really like that.

Thor and Natasha shared a look over the top of Hermione's head as he hugged her goodbye.

When he came over to her, he reached down, took her hand and pressed something into it.

"If you ever need to speak with me, simply say the incantation on the back of the pendent and a holographic image of myself will appear. It may not be right away but I will answer."

Natasha sighed and nodded. She hated to admit it, but now that things between them were a little different now, she wasn't liking the idea of having to say goodbye.

The blonde must have seen it though because he didn't say anything and simply pulled her into his arms. She let out a bit of a frustrated sigh for the situation they were in.

It wasn't really fair that Hermione only got to see her father during the sporadic times. She could only hope that it wouldn't take a kidnapping situation in order to make the blonde come back again.

"Keep yourself safe," he said softly as he looked down into her eyes hands cupping the sides of her face. "I know that you are fully capable of protecting yourself and her, but I do not want you to have to."

"Don't get caught when you go back," Natasha replied, deciding to return the advice she had been given. "That last thing that needs to happen is for you to be found out and prevented from coming again."

He nodded and bent slightly, kissing her softly on the cheek. "I promise I will not be as long this time."

He glanced at Hermione who was looking glum. "Look after her."

"Always."

Natasha took Hermione's hand and they trooped out to the backyard so they could say goodbye.

"Say goodbye to Daddy," Natasha whispered to the small strawberry blonde who was looking rather somber.

Thor moved to stand in the center of the yard and was looking at them one last time.

"Bye Daddy," Hermione called softly.

He smiled at her, and then raised an arm with the hammer clasped in his hand to the heavens. There was a blinding flash of light in which Natasha and Hermione had to shield their eyes.

And then he was gone…..with nothing but a large smoking rune left behind in the dead grass from the winter.

Hermione gave a great big sigh and Natasha did the same, though inwardly.

"Don't worry Mione," she said bending down to look the little girl in the eye. "We'll see him again."

"I know," her daughter said. But she didn't look happy about the arrangement.

"There was something I wanted to ask you," Natasha asked as they walked back to the house and Hermione looked up at her curiously.

"What's that Mummy?"

"Do…..do you remember what happened when the men came for us?" Natasha asked. She was hesitant to bring it up, but Hermione hadn't had any night mares since they had returned from being abducted and she wanted to know just what it was that her daughter remembered.

"I….I remember you fighting," Hermione said slowly. "And I remember Daddy was there…..and I did magic."

"Yes you did. Do you want to learn more about it?" Natasha asked hesitantly when they were back in the living room.

Surprisingly, the blonde's glum expression from her father's departure brightened up right away.

"Oh yes Mummy," she said eagerly. "Daddy showed me how to do a little. He told me I could control electricity."

"Yes you can, and he's going to teach that when he comes again. But there are other ways you can learn how to defend yourself."

Hermione frowned up at her mother. "You mean like you Mummy? I remember you fought too."

Natasha bit her lip. "Well….yes, like me. I had to learn to defend myself a lot when I was younger."

She paused in that instant because Hermione had a curious expression on her face. It was almost hesitant but at the same time, there was excitement there too.

"What is it?" Natasha asked.

"Will you…..will you teach Mummy?" Hermione asked. "Can you teach me too?"

The red head took a deep breath. The last thing that she wanted was to turn her daughter into a weapon at the tender age of four and a half.

But her innocence was already somewhat tainted by those horrible men who had shattered her reality of the world.

Natasha wanted her daughter to be tough and to fight back against those who would use her. The Weavers had reminded her that she had been living in a partial bubble for the past four years and she wasn't invulnerable like she had been before.

Hermione was her greatest weakness and because the blonde was a demi god, she would be a target for all those who wanted to use her.

The brunette was reminded of that time six or seven year ago when she and a strike team had been sent to Germany to delve into a secret base of scientific operations known only in some of levels of the government as HYDRA. Their most valuable weapons were their human creations and thinking of Hermione in the control of people like that made Natasha want to pull her hair out.

Her daughter would not be defenseless.

Over her dead body.

And so she thought of things that she could begin teaching Hermione, simple things that would still allow her to be a child, but at the same time teach her that the world was a dangerous place and that she needed all the training she could to defend herself.

"Mummy?"

The small blonde was looking at her strangely and Natasha realized she had delayed too long in answering.

Natasha took a deep breath, settling on her answer. "Yes Mione, I will teach you what I can. But not yet. Soon…..soon I will teach you everything."

Ω

**Next chapter will include the wedding of Petunia and Regulus and Natasha will begin to train Hermione a little bit. Training will become more intensive as the years go on, but remember that she's only four right now so there isn't much she can do. When Thor comes, he's going to help her with her magic and the rest. There's only going to be about three more chapters before we get to the Hogwarts arc, because I know we're all excited to get there. Hell I'm excited to get there! I have so many ideas to throw out there. New friends, new spells, new powers and new battles to fight. Holy Mother of the Merlin I can't wait! Don't forget to review and enjoy!**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21

Petunia told Natasha that after the disastrous events of their stay at the beach house, she was quite glad to not have to look at the ocean when she was getting married and so by a quick decider voting, she and Regulus had decided to have the ceremony as well as the small reception dinner following it in the backyard of Number 4 Privet Drive.

Regulus and Sirius would fix the place up nicely with magic, grow some flowers and create a general atmosphere of joy and matrimony and then they would tie the knot beneath an arch of flowers.

Maybe it was a bit cliché, but that was what Petunia wanted. She claimed she was past the whole bells and whistles affair of a young bride and she just wanted to have her second wedding in a place that was comfortable and homelike with her family and friends around her.

So a week after Thor had returned to Asgard, Natasha found herself in Petunia's living room to pick up the dress she was to wear to her friend's wedding.

In the back of her mind, the red head had had visions of some hideously purple frilly creation that had been dug out of a thrift store from the disco era.

But when Petunia brought down the actual dress, she found herself pleasantly surprised.

Petunia explained as Natasha looked at it, that she had always been partial to the color peach and so the dress the red head was to wear was a delicate pale soft orange with halter top straps and a low back. It didn't have any other adornments other than a band of pearls that was tied just beneath the bust line and simple low slung white heels.

It was actually rather classy.

Completely unlike those black low backed thigh high slit things she had been asked to wear when she was running covers for the Red Room.

_It's a good thing I'm keeping my hair brown otherwise the red would completely clash with this, _Natasha thought absently as she tried the dress on later that afternoon.

Ivan was still insisting she rest even though it had been a week and a half since they had escaped from the Weavers. She had never seen him so uptight before.

They were both born and raised in the military, he should have known that she would be able to brush something like this off. It was who she was.

It wasn't until the third day however when she began to realize that Ivan wasn't insisting that she stay home for herself.

He was more worried about how the abduction from the beach had affected Hermione.

It was still puzzling Natasha because though her little girl had been afraid during the whole ordeal, she hadn't shown any type of post-traumatic stress like she would have expected, nightmares for example.

Her curiosity got to her the day before the wedding and while Hermione was playing in the backyard with her bubbles that Aunt Petunia had given her, Natasha finally decided that she had to know.

"Hermione?"

The little strawberry blonde looked up. "Yes Mummy?"  
"Can you come here for a moment?"  
She hurried over and Natasha took her hands and looked at her carefully for a moment. "You haven't had any scary dreams lately, have you?"

The four year old frowned. "No Mummy. I did once, but I told Daddy about it when he was here and taught me something to make them go away."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. That was new to her.

"What did he tell you to do?" she asked.

"Daddy taught me how to make a wall," the little girl said cheerily. "He does it all the time. When something gets in his head that scares him he says he uses…..electricity to make a wall inside his head to block it out."

Natasha blinked. She hadn't even realized there were mental capacities like that, and Thor had never told her about that.

But it was good that Hermione was bonding with her father. She didn't see him very often and hadn't even known who he was before he had spent the last week with them.

Perhaps it was somewhat sentimental, but Natasha hadn't taken the necklace he had given her to reach him off. On the other hand though, she was just being safe. She wanted to make use of it if something like this ever happened again and Stalin reared his ugly head.

And speaking of the weasel himself, she and Ivan had been digging in into every backstory and cover of his they could find and there had been nothing, he had covers for his covers.

She knew they would find him and it would just take some time, but knowing that that slimy snake was slithering around in the world out there made her skin crawl. He hadn't just been after her, he had been after her daughter and Natasha had made a silent vow to herself that she wouldn't rest until she had killed the man and seen the head fall from his shoulders herself.

Needless to say, no one messed with her daughter.

She could only imagine what Thor would do if he caught the man first though. She knew what he would have to say if he found out that she wanted to go after the man herself, but she decided he would have to deal with it. This was their daughter they were talking about. Maybe he would even want to go with her to deal with this bastard personally.

They weren't even married and they were already thinking like a team.

"And so is that what you've been doing?" she asked. "Putting into practice the things your father taught you?"

"Yes Mummy," Hermione said cheerily and then hurried back to play.

Natasha watched her for a minute and then glanced back at her cell phone. She had been expecting Ivan to call with more leads on Stalin, but so far, everything had been maddeningly quiet.

She knew he wanted her to make sure that Hermione wasn't affected by the abduction, but it had been a week of no nightmares and her daughter seemed very unchanged by what had happened.

This was getting ridiculous! Hermione didn't possess the mental faculties yet to lie without being detected and Natasha was trained to sense lies, so there wasn't anything her little girl could hide from her, at least not now.

Finally, she decided to set being a mother aside for a moment and put it out of her mind and take back the mind of an espionage agent so she could stop analyzing her daughter.

If she wasn't affected by the abduction, then she wasn't affected by the abduction.

It was as simple as that.

So when the day of the wedding came, Natasha realized she needed to stop worrying about any type of post-traumatic stress her daughter might be suffering, because she certainly wasn't saying anything.

As Natasha put the dress on and stood in front of the mirror adjusting the straps, she began smirking as she thought about the events surrounding the last time she had worn a dress.

It had been red and backless with a sky high slit with long white gloves of all things. She had hated that thing.

Of course, later that evening that she had worn it, it had been taken off her and not by her own hands, which was the only time she had liked it.

Thinking about that night still caused her to smirk.

It had been one hell of night.

She smoothed down the wrinkles on the waistline of the peach dress and her smirk widened when she remembered that she had to wait almost half an hour before putting clothes back on after that night because of how sensitive her skin had been.

She wasn't in pain from it, but she had felt almost worked over as if she had been almost too close to a roaring fire but not quite so, the intense heat was there without any of the unpleasant burning side effects.

No other man than a god was capable of doing that.

_Hmm…..maybe I'm not as a-romantic as I thought. _

"Mummy? I'm ready."

Natasha turned around and found Hermione standing in the doorway of the room in a dress of the same color with little ruffles on the sleeves and hemlines. She was wearing white socks and white patent leather Mary Janes and her loose strawberry blonde curls bounced around her shoulders as effortlessly as if they were being blown by a wind. She was holding the white basket of flower petals in it that she was to throw and the whole picture she created was like something out of a Hallmark card.

When she saw her mother though, her blue green eyes widened.

"Mummy, you look so pretty," she said in a hushed voice and Natasha smirked at her reflection.

"Thank you baby girl."

"I think Daddy would like it too," the little girl said thoughtfully.

"Really?" Natasha said raising an eyebrow. "And what makes you think that?"

"I don't know," Hermione said cocking her head to one side. "I just think he'd like it."

Natasha felt a corner of her mouth quirk upwards and quickly quelled it so her daughter wouldn't see.

"Well maybe we should take a picture and show him for when he comes back," she suggested and Hermione's eyes lit up.

"Yeah! Do you think he'd like my dress?"

Natasha bent down so she was eyelevel with her daughter. "Sweetheart, I think he would like anything that you wore."

She glanced at the clock. "Now come on. The wedding's in half an hour and we don't want to be late. Your aunt Petunia would have a fit."

Ω

For just a simple backyard wedding, Natasha thought Sirius and Regulus had actually done a pretty good job.

The sun was shining brightly in a clear blue sky and the air was ripe with the smells of spring.

There was an archway of petunias and lilies, which was actually a nice touch and tribute to Harry's mom and Petunia's sister. It was at the back of the yard near the garden where the rest of the spring flowers were already in full bloom and there were three white chairs set up for Harry and Dudley and Hermione to sit upon when their ring bearing duties had been completed.

Across the fence were strung garlands of dainty little white lights entwined with flowers, and there was elegant violin music coming from a small record player just inside the patio door.

Also right by those doors an awning had been set up where there was a buffet table where people could go and fill their plates when the ceremony and pictures had been concluded.

_Not bad….not bad at all._

Regulus and Sirius were operating by that old its bad luck to see the bride in her wedding dress until she's walking down the aisle, so they were still at Grimmauld place getting ready.

Natasha slid open the backdoor which was always left open in this quiet neighborhood and knocked on the siding of the door before they stepped inside.

"Petunia?"

"I'm in here!" called the blonde's voice from the living room.

Natasha bent and looked Hermione in the eye. "Why don't you go and find Harry and Dudley? But if you get yourself dirty, all the skill I have won't be able to save you from your Aunt Petunia's wrath. Do you understand?"

The little strawberry blonde nodded and hurried toward the stairs in search of her best mates.

Natasha carefully took off her shoes and strode to the living room.

Upon entering it, she saw Petunia standing before a floor length mirror she must have lugged down from the attic and fussing with the seams of her dress.

The couches had been pushed back for more room and were now against the far wall.

The gown was the same style as Natasha's, halter with a low back but she had opted to not wear a veil and instead there was an intricate crown of pressed petunias woven throughout her hair. The tips of the petals had been dipped in silver and it was a very classy but simple look.

Petunia turned around at the sound in the doorway and smiled when she saw who it was.

"Is it too much?" she asked, sounding a little nervous. "I didn't want to wear anything elaborate considering how disastrous my marriage to Vernon was. But then everything with him was so over the top and dramatic."

The brunette smile. "You look lovely Petunia."

There was a moment of silence when Petunia turned to her friend and said, "Regulus told me he wants to live here."

Natasha paused before answering and raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"He does. He told me that he doesn't want to live at Grimmauld place permanently as that place has too many bad memories for him and Siri and he told me something about how Sirius is looking for work out of the country as well."

That surprised Natasha. "He is?"

The blonde nodded as she adjusted the flowers in her hair. "Yes. Apparently the media circus surrounding his release has been pretty bad and he wants some peace and quiet. In fact he's already been offered a job somewhere else. Apparently Sirius has always had an aptitude for Transfiguration which is what helped him become an Animagus when they were in school. He's been offered a job in Central America at a school there."

This was news to the brunette. "Is he going to take it?"

"I think so. He was a little uneasy about leaving Harry, but now that he knows Harry's being well cared for and trained, he's more comfortable with the idea of it. He'll fire call every evening and talk to them, but I think he just wants to get out of England and get a fresh start, get as far away from Azkaban as possible until he feels secure enough that he's not going to be hauled back."

Natasha nodded. "I get that. And Regulus will live here with you then?"

Petunia nodded. "He told me he doesn't want me to come live in Grimmauld Place because he doesn't even like it there and because everyone in the wizarding world thinks he's dead, he wants to keep it that way for right now."

Natasha frowned. She had remembered the conversations she and the younger Black had had about why he had shown up on Petunia's doorstep in a coma.

Apparently when he had been in school he had been recruited to join this Lord Voldemort fellow that his brother had hated, but it wasn't long before he became a turn coat and started working against him covertly. He had made a discovery of something that Voldemort was hiding, something that he had been able to do magically to prolong is life and make him immortal.

Regulus wouldn't talk about what it was yet, but Natasha had a feeling that it was something big.

And she knew that unless you were a god, being immortal was impossible. So what he had done must have been something very dark and sinister.

Regulus had discovered his secret and had been looking for ways to bring him down when he had had some sort of accident that left him in a coma for a year before he awoke and tried to apparate home only to somehow land on Petunia's door step.

It was a bizarre story, but Natasha beginning to become used to the bizarre.

"When does Sirius want to leave?" she asked.

"Next week," Petunia replied. "He told us that he's going to be away on contract for two years and then he can choose if he wants to come back to England."

Something shining on the table in the sunlight caught the Russian's attention and she frowned. "What's that?"

Petunia glanced down at the table, saw the shiny object and gave a half smile. "It's a bracelet. Lily sent it to me as a wedding present before she went into hiding. She didn't approve of Vernon, but she didn't want to make me think that she didn't care about me. I've never even put it on."

She bent down and picked it up. "It almost doesn't seem right wearing it after everything that's happened. She's gone forever and I'm about to get married for the second time, finally to someone who loves me. She should be here to see me walk down the aisle, finally with someone she would like. I'm not the same person anymore. I wasn't deserving of it then and I'm still not sure I am now. I don't know if I should wear – "

She was stopped when Natasha suddenly strode toward her, took her by the shoulders and gently but forcibly turned her around so they were both looking into the mirror.

Petunia looked teary, but Natasha was coolly determined.

"Tuney," she said quietly. "You are someone who has lived through an abusive marriage and took in her nephew when it would have cost her a lot. You raised Harry and Dudley for three years by yourself and did it well even you were all on your own. If anyone deserves it, it's you. Put on the bracelet. Wear it as a reminder that you're not just the person you used to be anymore. You're someone better."

Petunia took a deep breath gave their reflections a watery smile.

"Thank you Natasha," she whispered. "I think I needed to hear that."

Before anything else could be said, there was the clattering of little feet on the stairs and giggles as three preschoolers tumbled down it from the second level.

"Harry James Potter and Dudley Evan Dursley! If you've messed up your suits I am going to be – "

Petunia cut off when her two little boys tumbled into the doorway of the living room, completely perfectly dressed and grinning from ear to ear, with Hermione right behind them.

"Don't worry Aunt Tuney," she said, ever the prim and proper little lady. "I didn't let them get dirty."

Petunia smiled at her niece. "Thank you Mione."

"Mummy you look pretty!" Dudley said as if it was the strangest thing in the world and Natasha rolled her eyes good naturedly.

"Come on you three," she said holding out her hands to them. "Let's get out to the backyard and leave your Aunt Petunia to get ready. Uncle Reg and Uncle Siri will be here soon."

Dutifully, they took her hands and followed her out into the backyard.

"It's pretty," Harry commented and Hermione and Dudley nodded.

"Yes, it is very pretty," Natasha said briskly, now all business. "Now look you three, Hermione is supposed to come down the aisle first with her basket and then the two of you," she pointed to Harry and Dudley, "are going to follow her."

She walked them to the end of the lawn where the arch of flowers was and they followed her. "And when you have given the rings to Uncle Reg, you are to come back and sit down and don't move until we get up to take the photos. Do you understand?"

The two little boys nodded somberly. "Yes Auntie Nat."

They had taken to calling her by her given name pretty well, but at first they had wanted to make sure that Hermione's actual name was in fact Hermione and after that, they were fine with the transition.

It didn't take long after that for the two Black brothers to show up and the next thing she knew, Natasha was standing up underneath an arch of petunia's waiting for the flower girl and two ring bearers to come down the aisle.

Sirius who was looking smart in a Muggle suit winked at her and she smirked back at him. She had warmed up to him a little since the trial and the abduction and decided that maybe he wouldn't be exactly the same as he was in school.

The person that had been found to marry them had actually been an old friend of the Black family that both Sirius and Regulus had liked and he could keep a secret. He was also one of the few that didn't know that Regulus had become a Death Eater nor that he had been in a coma for a year. So all of that worked to their advantage.

He had owned a small shop in Diagon Alley and both brothers had known him since they were young.

His name was Percival Whimsby and he owned the shop of Slug and Jiggers where all the Hogwarts students went to retrieve their potions kits before school started. He was also a lower level government official with the French Ministry and traveled back and forth in between the two places so he did have the authority to marry them.

He had been a little surprised when Sirius tracked him down and asked him to marry his brother and his fiancé but he had come none the less.

He was a sweet looking older man with a long white beard, curly white hair and thick spectacles. One of the oddest things about him however was the midnight black owl that he carried on his shoulder everywhere he went.

He was currently standing in between the groom and the maid of honor and they were waiting for the music to begin so Petunia could begin her descent from the house.

Sure enough it did within the next few moments and their eyes all rose to the sound of the sliding door opening and Petunia came through wearing her wedding dress.

Sirius and Natasha both covertly cast their eyes at Regulus and smirked at each other when they saw that he had gone slack jawed.

Petunia was blushing right to the roots of her hair as she walked toward them with Hermione walking just ahead of her and throwing flower petals, but her eyes were glistening like two stars and Natasha felt a twinge of happiness for her friend.

If anyone deserved this, it was Tuney.

When the bride and groom came parallel with each other, the grins on their faces could have been seen from the moon.

Whimsby began reading the vows slowly and carefully but Natasha and Sirius could tell that the bride and groom were barely paying attention as they were too enthralled with each other.

"May I please have the rings?" Whimsby whispered and Harry and Dudley jumped eagerly to their feet from where they were sitting. They dashed forward and handed the two rings over proudly.

Regulus placed the ring on Petunia's finger and she did the same.

"I now pronounce you man and wife," Whimsby said. "You may kiss the bride."

Natasha smiled and clapped along with Sirius who wolf whistled and the children giggled and cheered as two of the people they loved most in the world were joined together.

Unbeknownst to everyone, that scene would forever be cemented in little Harry's mind as the day when his life truly began.

He would forever respect what Lily and James had done for him. But from that moment on, Petunia and Regulus became his mother and father.

Ω

Life carried on at a steady pace from that moment going forward.

Regulus adjusted to playing a Muggle for the neighbors rather well and only used his wand when he was at home.

Petunia continued to work and Harry, Hermione and Dudley began school where they impressed their teachers with their quick thinking, especially Hermione.

Natasha went back to work for the Secret Service, but things were a little different now. Ivan placed her in the Covert Operatives Division and she quickly began to wow her superiors both with her physical capabilities and her intelligence in the division as well. Ivan told her privately that if she kept it up, she could be head of the division within five years. She was well liked and respected and glad that her life had returned to some level of normalcy.

Thor also was taking risks to make sure he could see his daughter. He tried to come and see the two of them at least once every four weeks and Natasha spoke with him at least once a week on the device he had given her.

It was dangerous for them to keep in touch often, but it was a risk the three of them had to take in order to stay together.

In fact, Thor's vehemence to see them as consistently as he did pleasantly surprised Natasha. There had been times when she questioned his commitment to his daughter in past, but not anymore…..he was all in now.

His devotion to things like his family was starting to grow on her and whenever they said goodbye after a long distance call so to speak, she was now able to admit to herself that she did kind of miss him.

True to her word, Natasha had taken on the role of overseeing their daughter's physical education. And every evening, after school and homework had been completed the three children would gather in Petunia's living room so Regulus could teach them about the ins and outs of magic and assist them with any type of magical questions they had. He didn't want them to be unprepared when they went to Hogwarts.

Before they made the trek to Number 4 in the evenings, Hermione and Natasha would go down to the training field that was the basement and the red head would teach her daughter what little of basic training she could as she was still a child.

During the next few years, the red head learned a few things about her daughter.

Hermione was remarkably light on her feet and she could think on her feet just as fast. Those were the things that Natasha would add to the list of things she had inherited from her. She was also a little stronger than a child should be, and that was something that Natasha would credit to her from her father's side.

All in all though she was making remarkable progress and if Natasha hadn't spent over a decade fighting, she wouldn't have been able to keep up with her.

Something that was increasingly becoming prominent were her electrical abilities. She didn't really know how to control them yet, and so when she would walk by a light bulb that wasn't lit, it would crackle and spark.

Twice Natasha had been called in to the school when Hermione was six because some of the bigger kids had decided to pick on Harry because he was so small.

It wasn't Harry's fault, he had a small and wiry build like his father and Dudley and Hermione had gotten so ticked that Dudley had pushed the bigger boy down. But when he had jumped back up and tried to hit Hermione because she was a girl and he thought she would be the easiest to take out, she had socked him in the chest and sent him flying five feet back into the sand box.

Thankfully no teachers had seen the incident so it was the kid's word against Hermione's and no one believed a six year old would send someone bigger than her flying back a few feet, but Tasha had been still been called down the school to be briefed about the incident.

Natasha kept a stern face on the whole time, but inwardly she was smirking.

_That's my girl. _

Later that night, the red head had sat her girl down to have a conversation with her.

"I know you were mad, but you can't just go around punching kids when they annoy you," Natasha explained.

Six year old Hermione folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow looking for all the world like a younger Natasha Romanov. The agent was struck for a minute about a similar conversation Ivan had had with her when she wasn't that much older than Hermione.

"Why?" the strawberry blonde asked. "You do it at work all the time."

Natasha smirked. "There's a difference there little girl. I get paid to do it and I can do it without getting caught. Your father's a god, so you're going to be a little stronger than most kids. There's nothing wrong with that, you're just different….that's all. But you can't let other people know that you are."

"Why not Mummy?"

She sighed. "Because like it or not Hermione, you and me…..we're not normal. You're a witch and demigod. I'm a witch too, and those sorts of things aren't normal. People don't like what isn't normal. Promise me that you won't do something like this again. There are other ways to handle people. I'll teach you if you want me to."

Hermione looked at her mother for a long moment before nodding firmly. "Okay Mum."

She hadn't hit any of the other kids at school again, but Regulus nearly split a gut laughing when he heard about it.

Natasha ensured to leave out the part where she had sent the kid flying into the sandbox and knew her friend would chalk it up to accidental magic anyway.

All three of the friends began to experience stronger bursts of magic as they grew older but Hermione was the only one who could really control it.

Thor explained to her when she was eight that because her magic was tied to her instincts and those could be suppressed a little more easily than her emotions because she was a demigod, she would have an easier time of it than her friends.

It was those times when he was with them that Natasha really began to feel like they were a family.

She and the god had grown closer in the next few years and being around him had softened her in the right ways.

It hadn't been easy at first, but with each smile of his starting eight years previously and the strange way he got her to loosen up that only Hermione could do was making it a little easier for her to care about him each time she saw him.

She still wasn't a romantic at all and in some ways neither was, but that just made the pair of them simpler and more in sync. He was a prince among gods and she spent more time in hostage situations than she did in coffee houses.

Again, normal would never define them, but that was what was beginning to make the three of them even more endearing.

Hermione herself was always happy when her father was able to sneak away from Asgard and spend time with her and her mother. Like Thor, she was very family oriented and protective of those she considered thus.

As she grew older Thor taught her how to handle the electricity coursing in her blood and how to physically take it from the elements around her.

Hermione was ecstatic one evening when she managed to summon the electricity from the lamp in the kitchen and hold it in the palm of her hand for a minute.

Natasha who had been keeping an eye on the situation, smirked at the delighted look on her daughters face.

Hermione reached out tentatively with her other hand and touched it, letting out an ecstatic giggle when it sparked against the tip of her finger.

Thor smiled. "As you grow little spark, I will teach you how to use the electricity. It can be very useful."

"Can you show me something now?" Hermione asked eagerly.

Thor shot a smirk at her mother and Natasha rolled her eyes. Despite his age and the fact that he was a god, there were times when things about him reminded her of his daughter. The way his eyes would light up subtly at the sight of Hermione or her, the times when he would tell her about Asgard and how someday hopefully, he would find a way to bring the both of them there reminded her that as serious as he could be at times, there still lurked a playful side of him.

Buried beneath the rugged good looks and chiseled body and god like powers of course.

There had been a time once when he had been waiting for them when Natasha brought Hermione home from school and she would never forget the look on her daughter's face.

Those two were almost scarily alike.

Natasha made sure that she used the time with her daughter without her father being there to instill in her some of the finer points of being stealthy.

It was beginning to pay off too.

Natasha had started off with basic training for Hermione, teaching her how to tumble and flip and somersault and dodge blows. She was nowhere near ready for weapons training though as she was only eight years old, perhaps when she was ten.

They started running every morning since she was five, not for very long, but truthfully Natasha was a little curious about how many god like characteristics her daughter had.

Something Natasha had discovered about Hermione as far back as when she was four was that she was very flexible and quite agile as well. Her reflexes were excellent and her vision was as sharp as her mother's. She also had a great deal of endurance even at the tender age of eight and she didn't tire as often as Harry and Dudley did when they were playing.

_I guess some of the genesis serum is hereditary. _

As the time drew nearer for them to go to school however, Regulus amped up the magical training.

He taught Hermione, Harry and Dudley all about the history of magic, potions, transfiguration, charms and care of magical creatures. Subjects like Divination he turned up his nose at for they were woolly at best and highly unpredictable at the least.

Natasha meanwhile kept to the physical training and her father kept up with the magical training.

By nine years of age, Hermione was the fittest child in the entire school. Her mother told her that she needed to cover up her unnatural physicality by getting involved in some type of sport and so the strawberry blonde chose swimming.

Not to be left out, Dudley and Harry also chose a sports team, but they preferred soccer.

So some Saturdays found Natasha, Petunia and Regulus at Hermione's swim meets or Harry and Dudley's soccer games, doing regular ordinary parent type things.

Natasha was the only one who was able to notice the fact that her daughter was slightly faster than everyone else due to her god like DNA.

_Go get them little girl._

Hermione was proving to be nigh on unstoppable throughout life. She had a smile that was electric like her father but she was also proving to be quite serious and mature like her mother. She had taken to dressing like her too.

Natasha wore leather and dark clothes to work all the time along with her gun holsters and knives tucked away into tall boots, and Hermione was beginning to emulate the all black trend.

One evening when Natasha was away on assignment with granddad, Hermione was spending the night at Aunt Petunia's house and she and Harry and Dudley were watching James Bond.

Now that a nine year old Hermione knew what her mother did for a living, she inwardly scoffed at James Bond, knowing her mother was so much cooler.

"I'm going to get a drink," she announced and Harry and Dudley barely acknowledged her as their eyes were glued to the television.

Hermione rolled her eyes and hurried to the kitchen where the lights had been dimmed.

Aunt Petunia and Uncle Reg who had been married for the last five years were upstairs and so the back half of the house was quiet.

Hermione had just pulled the carton of juice from the refrigerator when a sudden flash from the backyard of her own house caught her attention.

She grinned, knowing right away who the flash could be attributed to.

It was hard for her to believe that no one around was able to witness the amazing things that her father could do. But he had disguised himself from the humans when he was in his god like form because anonymity was their friend right now.

It was a warm fall evening just after her ninth birthday and so after checking to make sure that Harry and Dudley were still tucked into the world of James Bond, Hermione silently slid open the back door and hurried across the yard to the gate which she pulled open and slipped through.

Sure enough, there was her father.

He was dressed in normal human clothes and she had only seen him in the attire of normal Asgardians a few times, but she always liked when he wore clothes from his world.

He seemed more like a god that way.

He smiled when he saw her and it seemed to light up the night that way.

Hermione grinned back at him and hurried toward him.

He knelt down and hugged her and she gave a contented smile. She always felt safe with her mother around, but when her father hugged her, Hermione felt as if nothing bad would ever happen to her.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she pulled back. "We didn't expect you for another few weeks. Mum's not even here. She's not going to be happy that she missed you."

"I spoke with your mother a few days ago," he said in that deep voice that was perfect for storytelling. "She told me that she would be out of the country for a few days and that you would be staying at your aunt's in the meantime. I thought you could use some company."

Hermione smiled up at him as they walked back to the patio and sat down on the steps. "Grandmother and Grandfather don't know you're gone do they?"

"They believe I have left for a short scouting mission to one of the other Realms," Thor explained easily. "Even your Uncle doesn't know I'm here."

Hermione laughed. She had never met her trickster Uncle, but Thor had told her a great deal about him and she felt as if she knew him well enough already. She knew it wasn't possible at the time, but someday she hoped she would be allowed to meet him.

Thor had told her that he had basically broken a dozen laws when he had met her mother and they had had her, and so because of that, he had to be very secretive when he came.

Privately, the strawberry blonde thought it was all very romantic. She knew her parents weren't married, but they had a commitment to one another that was basically like marriage because she never saw her mother smile as much as she did as when Thor was around.

"I'm sorry I wasn't able to be here for your birthday a few days ago," he said, the mood of the conversation turning a bit somber.

"That's alright," Hermione said and she meant it. Her father was a prince in another world and so he had responsibilities. She had been disappointed at first, but her mother told her that he would come soon.

"Perhaps," Thor said and she could see a smile behind his deep blue eyes. "But I would still feel better if you were to have this."

He held out his hands and a sleek silver box materialized in his palms.

Hermione's eyes went big when she saw it and she eagerly took it from his hands, grinning all the while.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Well that would require you opening it to find out hmmm?"

Hermione smirked at her father before reaching for the clasp on the front of the box, flipping it up and carefully pulling the lid open.

She gasped.

Lying on a cushion of black velvet were the most beautiful blades she had ever seen.

Their length was from the tips of her fingers to the middle of her forearm and they were completely made of silver. The pommels were twisted into a spiral at the end and the metal gleamed like starlight. The lines on both sides of the blades were so smooth and flowed like water, but she could also see that they were razor sharp. They were meant to be used at the same time in combat she was sure

"Their beautiful," the young demigod whispered.

She glanced up at her father. "But Mum said she doesn't think I'm ready for weapons yet."

Thor smirked. "Leave your mother to me. This time, I'm going to teach you how to handle a knife."

Hermione felt her eyes go big. She could only imagine what her mother would say.

"Do they have names?" she asked.

Her father told her that he and many of his friends who were also gods and goddesses often gave names to their weapons that had seen the most battle and done heroic deeds. They were named for the great acts they performed in war.

For example, her father's hammer was known as Mjolnir.

"You yourself must name them," Thor replied. "Though I doubt there will be many wars to fight here that you must use it in."

He gently took the blades from her hands and held them so that they lay parallel with Mjolnir. "But I can tell you that they were forged using the same material as my hammer, so none but you will be able to use them."

"Wicked," Hermione whispered, a catch phrase that Dudley used quite often.

"But you must promise me that you will only use the, when your mother or I have taught you how to handle it without hurting yourself or others," Thor said. "It would be a grave error if someone were to be hurt by carelessness."

"Yes Dad," Hermione said seriously.

He smiled at her. "I have no doubt one day you will be as swift with this steel as your mother is. But there is a reason for why she is the way she is. She will tell you when you become older."

Hermione frowned at her father, wondering the reason for the change in conversation topic. Her parents were always so secretive about their pasts. She knew her mother was a gifted fighter and talented with weapons. Hermione had seen her mother fight before and she had always been a little envious. She wished she was able to do half the things her mother did.

But Natasha wouldn't even let her hold a gun. It was only recently that she'd been allowed to hold a knife and so far they had only done tumbling.

There wasn't anything wrong with being agile and Natasha had often told Hermione that she was so fast and agile on her feet that nothing would be able to touch her, but Hermione was getting impatient.

She wanted to get to the good stuff.

She had told Harry and Dudley about what her Mum was teaching her and they had wanted to join in too, but Aunt Tuney wouldn't let them. She had said that if they wanted to learn things such as martial arts, they were allowed to go and take classes.

It wasn't that she didn't trust Natasha, but Petunia knew that what she did with her daughter was her business, but she didn't want Harry and Dudley learning how to kill before they reached school.

Well, she didn't want them to learn how to kill at all, but being wizards that was somewhat inevitable by the time they reached a certain age.

So while Harry and Dudley weren't entirely pleased that they couldn't do what Hermione was learning, they were pacified by the fact that they would be able to learn to fight both with magic and with Muggle means.

They started karate lessons when they were four and so far had been part of the program for about five years because they were nine now and were well on their way to becoming masters by the time they were fifteen.

"I know," Hermione said and her father must have heard the frustration in her voice because he smirked. "But I want to learn to do what Mum does. She says I'm too young to hold any sort of weapon but what happens when I go to school in two years?"

"Do you honestly think you're going to be needing to do a lot of fighting when you go to school?" Thor asked raising an eyebrow.

Hermione shrugged. "I don't know. But what if I need to?"

Thor laughed, causing his daughter to smile. "You need patience little spark. Your lack of it is something that streams from me. Your mother is as cold and calculated as your uncle. You would do well to emulate her more as a lack of patience isn't something that is going to get you very far here."

Hermione sighed. "Well when can I get impatient dad?"

He smiled again. "You cannot little spark. Have you ever seen your mother lose her cool?"

Hermione thought back through her eidetic memory to a scary time when she was four years old and she saw her mother fight like an animal.

She had told her to hide in a barrel while she and her father took care of the bad guys, but Hermione hadn't listened.

She had peeked out of the barrel and seen just what it was that her mother could do, and that image had been cemented inside her mind forever.

The earliest thought that she could remember had been this: _I don't want to be a scared little girl that hides ever again. _

Thor must have seen the shadow that passed over her face because he tilted her chin up so he could look at her. "What is it?"

"Nothing," Hermione said. She hadn't inherited her mother's complete ability to lie without giving away the truth, but she was working on it.

Thor raised an eyebrow at her and she sighed. "It's just…..I don't want to be scared again."

He frowned and she could feet the intensity of his stare. "Little spark, why are you afraid?"

Then he realized what she was talking about and his expression went stone cold. "Do you remember what happened in its entirety five years ago?"

Hermione sighed and nodded. "I remember being afraid and being told to hide. I don't want to do that anymore. I don't want to be someone who's scared."

If she had been looking at her father during that time, she would have seen the sorrow that entered his eyes upon hearing this.

"Little spark," he said gently and waited until she looked up at him again. "It is alright to fear, even good sometimes. The thing you must never do is let the fear control you. Fear is something that will touch you throughout your life despite whose daughter you are. You are a child of lightning, let that light burn brighter than any fear."

It might have sounded a little cheesy if she were older, but for now, they were the most comforting words her father could have said.

"Thanks Dad," she said and he smiled and pulled her into his arms, once more reinforcing the fact that she would never be truly afraid when he was with her.

"You had best be getting back," he said. "Your aunt will be calling for you soon."

Hermione nodded reluctantly. "Will you be back soon?" she asked.

He kissed the top of her forehead. "As soon as I am able."

He walked to the centre of the lawn and smiled at her. "Look after your mother little spark."

"Yes Dad."

There was a flash of light and then suddenly he was gone.

Hermione sighed and glanced down at the box in her hand before opening it up and flipping the knives into her hands. It shone like starlight in the gathering dusk and she smiled at the sight of it.

This would be one birthday present that would not become lost among the rest of her things.

Ω

It wasn't long after that Natasha came home and needless to say, she was less than pleased when she found out what Thor had given to his daughter.

But the sight of the knives must have prompted her that her daughter was finally ready for weapons training, without the firearms of course and the salsa with steel began.

Of course she was only allowed to hold blunt weapons at first, but when her mother witnessed her agility with the instrument, she reluctantly agreed to allow Hermione to handle sharper weapons.

The basement in their house was littered with training dummies as Hermione learned how to block flip, punch, and box and needless to say move as fast and effective as her mother did.

The amount of bruises her daughter amassed in that time broke Natasha's heart, but when her little girl confessed to her that she didn't want to be someone who was afraid anymore and what her father told her, Natasha resolved to make Hermione physically impossible to take down.

One afternoon after one of their sessions, the two of them were sitting in the backyard with glasses of lemonade and ice packs in their hands, Natasha told her that she could learnt to fight all she wanted but there were some things she needed to learn that would make people reluctant to even push it that far.

"What's that Mum?" Hermione as she placed the ice pack on her neck and winced. She had whipped back too far when she was training with her mother and hurt her neck.

"It's your level of confidence Mione," Natasha explained. "When you walk in a room, the first thing that people will see is the amount of surety you have. Walk tall, don't slouch, and look them down with your eyes. Don't be arrogant, but let them know you're a threat if you have to be."

"How do I do that Mum?" Hermione asked. She wanted to be just like her father, but she also wanted to be as stealthy as her mother. Her mother had a sarcastic streak that could cut skin and the moves to back it up. Hermione didn't want to be someone that people feared, but respected.

Granddad had come to collect her from school once and had taken her back to HQ where he had allowed her to watch her mother train new agents.

Hermione had been in awe watching her mother move. It was like water the way she flowed from position to position, and not once did she ever see her mother take a hit.

_I want to be like that, _the strawberry blonde thought to herself.

Her mother was the epitome of fearlessness just like her father. She was also the epitome of strength and when Hermione was around either of them, she didn't feel one inch of fear.

Her father may have been a god, but as far as she was concerned, her mother was a queen.

"It's simple," Natasha said. "You make eye contact with everyone you meet. You refuse to look away and you walk with your head held high. Watch."

She got to her feet and walked to the end of the garden before striding back and Hermione observed the look in her mother's eyes. It was frigidly cold and unyielding and nine year old Hermione smiled.

"Now you try," Natasha prompted and the two of them spend the next few hours striding about the garden staring down the plants. It was a little silly with no one to intimidate but fun none the less.

"Unless you are using negotiation to intimidate someone," Natasha told her. "Only smile to those who deserve it."

"Like you and Dad and Harry and Dudley?"

"Exactly."

Later that evening, the three of them were sitting in the living room with Uncle Reg having their daily magic lessons. When the boys had learned about two years earlier that Hermione didn't have to use a wand to do magic, they were very envious. But when Regulus explained to them what a Mage was and that Hermione's father was one, they calmed down.

"We're going to put transfiguration aside for right now," Regulus said and they put their books down.

"There are a few things that you three need to know first before you go to Hogwarts," he continued and the three best mates exchanged glances.

"Like what Dad?" Dudley asked. He had no memory of Vernon and since Regulus had married his mother when he was four years old, the title of father was something that he had given the youngest Black naturally.

He knew about Vernon because he had asked his mother when he was a little younger why he didn't look like his dad at all. They had sat him down and explained to him not too long ago about his birth father Vernon and how he had been sent away by the police for hurting his mother and Harry when he had barely been walking.

Since then the blonde boy had had a vehement hatred for domestic abusers. Unfortunately, like his birth father, he had a bit of an anger problem when he was younger, and so that was why Petunia had suggested karate so that he could channel his anger into something useful.

Not to be left out, Harry had begged to join as well.

And so it was that all of the children were involved in some degree of martial arts up to this point.

Hermione's training was just a little more brutal.

"You need to be wary of who you trust when you get to Hogwarts," Regulus said lowering his voice to Natasha and Petunia wouldn't hear him in the kitchen. He was sure that Natasha would agree with his sentiments however.

"Don't be suspicious though. Make many friends when you get to school, and above all else train, do what you do best. You three are brilliant and you are already the best of friends. Don't let anyone try and take that away from you."

"Who would do that Dad?" Harry asked curiously.

He also knew that Regulus wasn't his real father, nor that Petunia was his mother, but he had no memory of Lily and James and as far as he was concerned, the members of Number 4 and 5 Privet drive were the only family he had. Aunt Tasha was his godmother, Dudley his brother and Hermione his sister.

After their wedding, Regulus had taken a closer look into Harry's strange scar that he had gotten the night that the Potters had died and discovered to his horror that it was of the same magical substance as the Horcrux he had nearly died to get ten years earlier.

Petunia nearly had a fit when she learned of this but Regulus had taken his adoptive son to the healers at Gringotts and they had succeeded in removing the soul fragment from his scar so any influence the Horcrux might have had upon him later in his life would be eradicated.

No one knew how the soul fragment had gotten there, but the three adults, and Sirius when he was told burned with anger when they learned of the news.

"People who might not want the three of you to be friends," Regulus continued. "Find allies, make friends, work hard. You still have nearly two years until you leave so there is still a lot we have to teach you."

He looked at the only dark haired boy in the living room. "Harry, we thought it was important that you learn about the prophecy that was predicted about you so you will know which people want to be your friends and which people simply want to use you. Do you understand?"

Harry nodded. He had been shocked when his Mum and Dad had told him and Dudley about the prophecy that he would defeat a Dark Lord that wanted to rule the world.

It was all craziness as far as Harry knew. He was only nine years old, how on earth could he possibly be the one to take down a powerful wizard?

That was where all the magical and physical training came in. Petunia and Regulus didn't want him to have to fight this creature as Regulus knew firsthand what he was like, but he determined that his two sons weren't going to be defenceless by any stretch of the imagination. He had wanted to wait until they were a decent age before he got them their wands, but having discovered a store of old wands in the family home at Grimmauld Place, he had selected three and brought them over for the children to practice with.

Harry and Dudley had been thrilled that they were getting a head start on magic before the other kids and their work ethic surprised the three adults, especially Natasha.

She would have expected no less from Hermione than to work her ass off, but Harry and Dudley were relentless.

Hermione didn't understand why she needed to use one because she got along with wandless magic just fine. But her uncle told her that wandless magic wasn't something that was normal at Hogwarts and being the daughter of a mage, she would have ready access to it.

Her mother had privately told her later that no one, not even Harry or Dudley could find out that her father was a god, a mage was as far as they could go to tell people the truth. She was a demigod and those were unheard of in the world they lived in.

Hermione who was quite proud of her heritage, agreed somewhat reluctantly. Her mother was a master of secrets and as time went on, she was teaching Hermione to school her features to be completely expressionless.

All black clothes all the time, intimidating piercing eyes and a smirk that could draw blood, Hermione was reminding Natasha more and more of herself every day.

Her power came from her father, but her intelligence and stealth from her mother.

"Good," Regulus continued. "Than here are the things that you need to know. There are many who will expect all of you to be in Gryffindor especially you Harry. While that is a perfectly respectable house in its own right, don't choose that route just because its expected of you. Choose the house you want to go to. Learn as much as you can."

Regulus and Natasha and Petunia and Sirius had conferred privately and they all realized that because of these horcruxes, Voldemort would seek to make a return.

All were in agreement that they couldn't let that happen.

Thus, Natasha found herself reading up on more magic than she ever thought she would do before.

Regulus wanted to use the time to teach as much magic to the children as possible and Natasha would handle the more physical aspects of her daughter's education.

They were already learning spells and potions as well as charms and Regulus predicted that the three of them would be the tops in their class in their first year.

Meanwhile Petunia and Regulus had been conferring about Dumbledore. They were unsure of his intentions, but they wanted to prepare the trio for anything.

Privately Petunia wondered if Dumbledore had simply left Harry on the doorstep in the middle of night knowing that she feared magic, hoping that she wouldn't tell him anything about it.

She wondered why on earth he would do something like that though. Wouldn't it be helpful to Harry to learn as much as he could before coming to school?

After a few days of thinking about it, she decided to put it out of her mind and simply concentrate on getting Harry, Dudley and Hermione ready for school.

Again, they still had two years, but it was vital that they know as much as they possibly could in the time before they went.

The trio soaked it all up like sponges.

They learned who they should be wary of, all the ancient families, the different teachers, what they all looked like, what they could expect from each one, what each of the houses was like.

Natasha wanted to laugh at how much Regulus seemed like an interrogation agent at these nightly sessions, but as a result of his schooling the children, there were a great deal of things she learned as well.

For instance when she wasn't helping Ivan track down international criminals, she was learning how to apparate and how to use her wand properly.

It was difficult after not having done it for so many years, but slowly but surely she was learning.

The red head was relieved when she finally learned to apparate from one end of the lawn to the next as it would be so much easier to get around. In some ways doing things the magical way was better than the muggle way and vice versa. The trick was to combine the two of them and see what results you came up with.

_I am a firm believer in the fact that both should be combined. _

Time passed and it was busy, but full.

Purpose had come back to Natasha's life, both in the form of motherhood and a career. She found she was good at balancing both and kicking ass at the same time.

Plus it pleased her to no end when she saw that in many ways Hermione was taking after her. She had the raw power of her father, but her mother's own cunning.

And there's nothing a parent likes better than to be told that their child is taking after them right?

Hermione later on demonstrated just how much she was like her mother when they were ten and she and her two best mates were walking home from school.

They were talking easily about the magic lesson Regulus had given them from the night before when suddenly, an obnoxious voice called out behind them, causing them to stop.

All three turned around and found themselves faced with the bully of their school Piers Polkiss and his gang of pathetic yes men walking down the street toward them.

Hermione hated arrogant braggarts, something her mother loathed as well and from the moment Piers had disrupted the class in their first day of first grade, she had despised him with a passion. He annoyed everyone in class when they were trying to study and picked fights with every other kid on the playground.

His father was rich so he thought he owned the world and everyone in it. All the other kids were scared of him, and because Mr. Polkiss was on the board of superintendents for the school and provided the primary school with a lot of funding, none of the teachers wanted to cross him either.

Hermione hadn't really been on the receiving end of his taunts, but that had worked to her advantage because she liked to watch him carefully and see what there was about him that made him tick. She wanted to know how he thought, every secret he carried and knew about, and even the ones he didn't she wanted to know.

And it was through her casual perusal of him that she discovered something interesting.

Piers didn't like the fact that there were others who would stand up to him and so Hermione, Harry and Dudley had been on his hit list for a while. He had never managed to corner the three though as they had always been too quick for him.

Now however, he was going to have some fun.

Or so he thought.

"Great," Harry muttered when he saw Piers and his gang start in their direction. "Now what do we do."

"Well I'm not running," Dudley said stubbornly. He was a Black and so was Harry, Regulus had stressed from them that Blacks never ran from a fight.

"We don't have to do that Dud," Hermione said watching the approaching band of boys coolly. "But we don't have to fight either. There are other ways to do that."

After a decade of learning from her mother, the strawberry blonde had learned that in order to fight someone, you had to know everything about him, all of his secrets, what made him tick and the best way to throw him off guard was to hit him with something that he didn't know.

And then all she had to do was step back and watch him crumble.

"I thought they kept you freaks after school!" Piers said loudly as they came closer. His henchmen snickered and Hermione suppressed the urge to roll her eyes.

He really was an idiot.

_He might actually be smart if he picked up a pencil for once instead of using it to draw pictures in his desk. _

Hermione sighed and examined her finger nails as if he was the most boring type of insect she had ever seen.

"No Piers," she said easily. "I thought they reserved that type of treatment for you since you're so far behind, its only due to your dad that you're in fifth grade at all."

Harry and Dudley snickered and Piers face reddened.

"At least I have a dad," he snarled to save face. "Where's your father Granger? Couldn't stand the sight of your ugly face when you were born so he took off?"

Dudley growled and stepped forward looking furious but strangely Hermione wasn't mad. She knew exactly who her father was, where he was and that he could blast this insignificant maggot to smithereens if he wanted to.

Matter of fact she could probably roast him and have a decent barbeque with him with all these street lamps and their high voltage in the area.

So instead she stepped forward and looked Piers solidly in the eyes.

"I'd be careful whose father you're talking about Piers," she said in a deadly whisper. "Because they all have their secrets….including yours."

Harry looked at his friend curiously, wondering what she was talking about.

"What do you know about my dad Granger?" Piers said but he was looking a little uncertain. And like an apex predator, Hermione noticed the weakness and pounced.

"Oh I probably shouldn't say anything if he hasn't told you," he said calmly, and Harry and Dudley caught on pretty quickly that she was playing some type of game and jumped right in.

"Maybe you should tell him what you know Mione," Harry said with a perfectly straight face. "After all, he has a right to know."

"Tell me what?" Piers demanded, but they ignored him.

"Yeah Mione," Dudley continued. "I mean if Mr. Polkiss hasn't told Piers by now, he's not likely to do it until after the divorce."

"Divorce!?" the boy squawked.

"You didn't know?" Hermione said her face perfectly in character with the non-existent shock she was feeling. "Goodness me, how embarrassing. All the teachers were talking about it the other day when we walked by the teachers' lounge. Apparently Mr. Polkiss has this favorite bar he frequents when he tells his wife he's running errands and apparently one of the teachers saw him getting handsy with one of the waitresses."

By this time Piers was backing away, his face going an unhealthy ashy color.

"You're lying," he stammered, but his eyes said he didn't believe them. "My dad wouldn't do that!"

"Would he?" Hermione asked raising an eyebrow. "Piers if you know anything about me its that I don't lie. Go ask the teachers and see if they'll deny it. In fact go and as Miss Tanner. You know she's the new geography teacher. I heard your father wanted to welcome her to school on a more…..private level."

Her words having registered like the twist of a knife in his gut, Piers turned and ran. His henchmen hesitated for a moment, confused because their leader had disappeared. After a minute though, he turned and hurried after him.

"That was incredible Mione," Harry observed as they watched him go. "How did you come up with a story that fast?"

"Who said it was a story?" Hermione asked as they turned back around to continue the walk home.

"Wait a minute," Dudley demanded. "You mean it was true?"

Hermione smirked at her best mate. "Dud what does my mum do for a living?"

"She's an agent with the British Secret Service."

"And what does she do?"

"Well…..she watches people to find out – "

He broke off when he realized what she was getting at. "Oh."

Hermione smirked. "I knew for about a month that Mr. Polkiss had a taste for younger women. I just had to wait for the right moment to tell Piers. With any luck it'll be all over the school by the end of the week and he'll be kicked off the board. Good riddance."

"But what about Miss Tanner?" Harry asked as they turned into the driveway of Number 4."

"I never liked her anyway."

Ω

Sure enough, Mr. Polkiss was called into an inquiry along with Miss Tanner by the end of the week and both were dismissed for their inappropriate actions. Piers was removed from the school as well and the entire student population breathed a sigh of relief at his absence.

Life continued on as normal with magic lessons from Regulus every evening and Hermione continued to learn hand to hand combat from her mother.

Natasha refused to let her hold a gun though, claiming that with her magic and her hybrid status as a demi god, she wouldn't even need to learn how to protect herself.

The strawberry blonde grudgingly agreed, but decided privately that she would ask again when she got a little bit older and see if her mother changed her mind.

And if not, well…..she could always talk to her dad and see what he thought. Maybe he could change her mum's mind.

Yeah, so she was a bit of a Daddy's girl.

Sue her.

He lived on a different planet and she only got to see him once a month.

She hated keeping such big secrets from her best friends, but it was imperative that no one found out Thor's status.

It wasn't that she didn't trust her best mates, it was the fact that keeping silent about something like this was in everybody's best interest.

Little did Hermione know though that the silence she had become used to wouldn't stay that way for long.

Ω

Despite the grim manner of his dress and the fierce stare that could somehow be deadly even though it was coming out of one eye as well as the way all the junior agents cleared out of the way when he walked down the halls, Nick Fury was an incredibly patient man.

The few people who knew him best would liken him to a cobra.

He would slither through the grass of the seamy under belly of international criminal world, just stalking his prey…..waiting for the right moment to strike.

And that moment was near in coming.

Right now he was sitting in his office, four different profiles of agents they had been tracking for the last five and a half years spread out across his desk.

All three of them had been affiliated with the Red Room and he had just received word that the second one was dead.

SHIELD had only been able to track three of them since the Red Room had dissolved almost six years ago. They were trained not to be found so he hadn't expected them to be easy to locate.

But when he had received a year ago that Dimitri Nabokov was dead, he had been a little surprised.

And then to hear from his staff a few minutes ago that Svetlana Markova and Mikhail Grabowska were dead as well, it was a bit of a surprise.

That left one Red Room Agent alive who, along with the other three who were now out of commission, had been at the top of the hierarchy of the Red Room.

Natasha Romanov.

They had been searching for her and Nabokov for nearly six years and while he had gone back and forth on whether or not she was to be brought in or taken out on sight, Fury was now beginning to realize she was a valuable asset with connections that would help them.

They needed to find her and bring her in.

She would do well on this team.

He got up from his desk and faced the wall of glass windows that looked out toward the rest of the city of Washington. All was calm and quiet, the sun was shining, and cars were moving on the street far below them with a steady continuous pace.

Fury knew however that when the sun went down those back alley ways and less traveled streets would turn into a hub of crime and debauchery.

This city needed cleaning up and the president knew it.

The only way they were going to make this country and this world a better place was if SHIELD was comprised of the top men and women throughout the world to see to it that it was made safer.

Force would be necessary to make that happen, and it would be a long term change not a short term fix, but he would see it done before he retired.

That team would consider Natasha Romanov a valuable asset.

He turned around and tapped the intercom for his secretary. "Sharon can you page Barton and send him up here? I need to speak with him right away."

"Of course Director Fury."

It wasn't long before the door opened and a tall solidly built man walked in. He had close cropped brown hair, a tan weathered face from a life spent in the outdoors and the long lean muscles of someone who hunted for a living. He had sharp blue eyes that darted about every which way as he walked, searching for potential threats.

The junior agents called him Hawkeye for a reason.

He stopped in front of Fury's desk and folded his hands behind his back in the cool manner of seasoned soldier. "You wanted to see me Director Fury."

"Barton I've received word that all but one of Red Room Agents we've been tracking for the last few year have been rendered deceased. Either they amassed too many enemies and were killed trying to flee the agency or they died under mysterious circumstances. Either way, there is only one more that is alive that we still know of. Ironically, she is one of the most important."

Barton raised an eyebrow. "She, sir?"

"Yes," Fury said glancing down at his desk. "Agent Natasha Romanov. She fled Russia almost a decade earlier and there have been almost no sightings of her since."

"But you have reason to believe that she isn't dead sir."

"No, because one week ago, the British Secret Service was alerted to a possible large drop of drugs coming from Portugal on their coast and this photo was taken from one of the dock's cameras."

He held out the photo to Barton. It was somewhat blurry, but the agent could still make out the outline and features of a women with the same height, build, and stature of Natasha Romanov.

Her hair was dyed a deep chocolate brown but she did look very familiar.

"And you believe this is her sir?"

It was Fury's turn to raise an eyebrow at him. "Barton would I have called you up here if I wasn't sure this was our agent?"

"No sir. But if she's part of the BSS now, what do you want me to do. Tangling with the Brits could take months and miles of red tape."

"Who said anything about tangling with them?" Fury demanded. "Barton, you're the best of the best. I called you up here because everyone else I've sent to locate her has failed. And now that we finally have a lead after a few years, I don't want there to be any more delays. Bring her in."

Barton gave a sharp nod and headed for the exit.

"And Barton?"

The agent stopped with his hand on the doorknob and looked back. "Sir?"

"You don't have to be gentle. Bring her in…..by any means necessary."

Ω

**So I realize there isn't a lot of action in this chapter, but it was necessary for character development. Only two more chapters until Hogwarts people, get excited! Don't forget to review and let me know what you think!**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22

Despite his demeanor and grave countenance, Clint Barton was a smart man.

Fury had a sort of break down the door, go in guns blazing approach and while that was appropriate in some circumstances, Barton knew when to go in quietly and observe and then get out before taking action.

This was one of those times.

It had taken him a while to locate Natasha Romanov but he wouldn't have expected it to be easy and would have been disappointed if it was.

It had in fact taken almost six weeks.

Barton expected nothing less….after all this was the Black Widow, the most fearsome assassin Russia had ever seen.

He also knew that kidnapping the woman and taking her back to America would not endear her to SHIELD nor make her want to work for them.

No, the trick here was leverage.

There had to have been something that she wanted that they would be able to offer her. All he had to do was find out what it was and dangle it in front of her face. Everyone had their price and he was sure she was no different.

He knew she had disappeared from Russia for a reason and he had a feeling that the key to securing her allegiance to SHIELD would be to observe her carefully and find out what it had been that caused her to leave.

Fortunately in addition to this keen intelligence, Barton was also a very patient man and he was willing to wait as long as possible to get the results that he needed.

Fury wouldn't care how long it took as long as he got the job done. And so Barton figured he had almost unlimited time to get what it was that he was tasked with done and high tail it back to the New York with Natasha Romanov on the roster of SHIELD agents.

And so it was that he landed in England and checked into a hotel under a false name, his intentions being clear. To locate Natasha Romanov at her place of work and observe her for a few weeks before he made any type of move.

This was the most boring part of the job by far, but it was all well and good if it earned him a pay cheque and kept his family safe.

Before he had joined SHIELD, he had been a marine in the US military and knew a great deal about shooting a gun and fighting in hand to hand combat. But the arrow was his preferred weapon of choice.

War was in his blood so it made sense for him to lie in wait to catch his prey.

She was likely to put up a fight though, one that he was looking forward to meeting. But it would be a clash of words rather than of wills and Barton was sure that once he knew what it was that she wanted and procured it for her, than they would have her cooperation.

And then they could all get on with their lives.

It was about a week before Barton was able to locate her at the headquarters of British Intelligence and week more for him to ascertain her habits.

He didn't know anything else about her living arrangements and decided that he wouldn't pursue that end at this time for that would be a situation for later.

During that week of observation, Barton came up with the idea that he would need to find some way to get her alone and speak with her about what it was that she wanted.

And there was only one way to do that.

Barton realized with a grimace in that moment that in order to speak with Natasha Romanov….he would need to join the British Secret Service.

Ω

It was a Saturday afternoon in early October and Hermione, Dudley and Harry were lounging in the backyard working on homework from school.

It was less than a year until they were supposed to go to Hogwarts but the excitement of the two boys was growing every day as it drew nearer.

Hermione for her part was keeping such thoughts to herself. She was excited in her own way, to put into practice what she had learned of course but she was also excited to go to boarding school and be on her own for the first time.

Well she wouldn't be completely on her own, there would be Harry and Dudley there with her.

Privately she would miss her mother, whom Aunt Petunia said she was growing more and more like everyday.

"Mione?"

Hermione glanced up at her best friend, realizing she had become distracted. "Yes Dudley?"

"You're coming to mine and Harry's martial arts tournament next weekend aren't you?"

"Of course," the ten year old replied. "I wouldn't miss it."

Her mother had enrolled her in several martial arts classes as well, specifically Wing Chun. But her classes were all taught by a private teacher who was well educated in the practices.

He had to be as Hermione was lithe and had a natural speed that she had inherited from her mother and required the special attention and influences of someone well educated.

Harry and Dudley were progressing remarkably well in their own studies as well and without Piers Polkiss around, school had become a much more enjoyable activity.

Hermione hadn't seen her dad in a few weeks, but that was okay.

Her mother had to work today so she had spent the day with her aunt and best mates.

Uncle Reg was going to take them to get their wands soon for which they were looking forward to.

Seeing as how they had already practiced with wands for almost two years as it was with the one's from Uncle Reg's library, it wasn't too much longer of a wait.

Hermione already knew the material for first years at Hogwarts quite well and had started on the second year material.

The sun was just beginning to go down when there was a knock on the garden gate and it was opened to reveal Natasha.

"Mum!" Hermione cried and jumped to her feet, running over to hug her mother.

The residents of number 4 and 5 Privet Drive were the only ones she showed any type of emotion for. Everyone else got a polite mask.

Hermione had taken her mother's lessons to heart and only smiled at those who deserved it.

Her teachers described her as a polite but reserved girl who preferred books to sports.

If they only knew that she spent the afternoons and weekends in the basement sparring with her assassin mother they would be singing a different tune.

"Hi Auntie Nat," Harry and Dudley called and she smiled at them.

"How was work?" Hermione asked.

"Work was…interesting," Natasha said and Hermione interpreted the slight pause as something had gone different in her mother's day.

After saying goodbye to mates and promising that she would see them tomorrow, Hermione and her mother went back to the house.

"Did something happen today?" Hermione asked getting right to the point and Natasha smiled to herself.

She could hide things from her daughter as well as she could hide them from Thor. He couldn't read her mind, but he didn't have to and in the last ten years they knew each other better than they knew anyone else.

Her relationship with the god was….special…..unique. He understood in her in a way no one else did and vice versa. They were connected by their daughter and though they were practically married they were friends also, partners.

Natasha let her guard down with him in a way that she only did with Hermione and by knowing him, he had opened up a part of the world to her that she had never known about before.

Hermione acted as their relationships compass because truthfully a long term relationship to Natasha had been as foreign as life on other planets.

Ironic wasn't it?

"Work was fine Mione, it's just…well there was this new agent joining us and I've been inspected to train him."

"Is there something wrong with him?" Hermione asked as she poured herself a glass of water.

"No it's just…I can't help but wonder about his past," Natasha replied as she dropped her gym bag into the hall closet. "I only was curious because he has the same look that I know I did when I escaped the Red Room when I was pregnant with you."

Hermione nodded seriously.

She didn't know much about her mother's past, but she did know that she had been an assassin employed by the Russian government to hunt down undesirables during the Cold War.

Such a war having ended about a year ago, Hermione understood the suspicions.

Her father had been her mother's partner on a trip to America to retrieve a top secret weapon from Stark Industries.

It had been her last mission before she had fled Russia with Hermione.

"He looks like…..well he looks sort of cold," Natasha finished quietly to herself and Hermione frowned.

"Do you think maybe he could have been from an agency like yours?"

Natasha regarded her quietly. "Perhaps…..the situation will bear watching to say the very least."

Clinton West was his name and he was far more well trained than she would have expected a new recruit to be. He was almost as good as she was.

It both impressed and worried her, but such a coincidence as to run into another Red Room Agent this far from Russia when all were thought dead was too impossible to ignore.

She made a mental note the following day to go and ask Ivan for his file. All new recruits had a file of information on their previous places of employment. If she had had indication that the man was from the Red Room, she would confront him and see what he said.

Perhaps this was all a coincidence.

Yeah right.

Ω

So it turned out she was right to not believe in coincidences.

As it turned out, Natasha wasn't allowed to look through the files on agents old or new.

But that had never stopped her before.

After disabling the cameras in the intelligence hallways of the BSS and waiting until all agents and Intel had left for the evening, Natasha stole down to the hallway and snuck into the file archives.

The archives were full of the files of BSS agents and Natasha wasted no time in heading for the files marked with a W.

The archives were deep underground and resembled the interior of a warehouse with their tall industrial metal shelves stacked high with cardboard boxes.

Natasha eyed the interior with distaste the minute she got off the elevator. I don't have the patience for this.

Ironically the shelf with the boxes marked with a large W wasn't that far from the elevator.

Pulling herself up onto the second shelf of the construction, Natasha began looking through the stacked carboRd boxes keeping one ear out and the rest of her faculties looking for the boxes with WE

It took a while to find it, but when she came across the box, Natasha knew she would find the man she was looking for in it.

The file of Clinton West came up halfway through the box and the brunette wasted no time in pulling it out.

What she found wasn't what she was expecting however.

It seemed that the reason that Clinton West was so well established as an agent and a fighter was because he had previously worked for SHIELD.

Natasha knew all about them. They were basically America's Red Room, but they preferred technology to human experimentation. They had been around since World War II as well and many of the her senior operating agents back in Russia had regarded the organization with fear and distaste. It was run and operated by a man named Nick Fury andhe had been a thorn in Stefan's side for the entire term he had been in charge of the Red Room.

Natasha had never come across a SHIELD agent before, but she had heard rumours about them and the technology they possessed and had secretly been a little envious that her own government couldn't spring for tech like that. It was supplied by Stark Industries which was the biggest weapons supplier in the world aside from the Black Market whose weapons were often unreliable and dangerous.

And Clinton West had been one of them.

The moment Natasha came to this conclusion however, another ought occurred to her. This must have been classified information. There was no way this type of intelligence would be lying around in an archives box waiting for someone to come across it. So that could only mean one thing.

Someone had left it here on purpose.

But why…..and who?

And the skin on the back of her neck prickled as something or someone was drawing near.

She sensed him before she saw him.

"I was wondering when you were going to find that."

Natasha spun, smoothly drawing her gun from her waist band and pointing it at the man who appeared in her line of vision in all black.

Clinton West was leaning against the metal pole of the tall shelf opposite the one she was sitting on and regarding her smoothly as if she had done exactly what he wanted and expected her to do.

He was unarmed, but Natasha had a feeling that he was like her and able to spring into action at a moment's notice.

He held up his hands in a gesture of surrender and chuckled when he saw the look on her face. "Relax Romanov. You never would have been able to find that if I didn't want you to."

"Really?" She asked raising an eyebrow. "And why pray tell would you want me to find this? It's not as if information like this is in the next greeting card to be found at the store. You had a reason for doing this. Why?"

"You gather intel for a living," West said. "Why do you think I would leave something like that for you to find?"

Natasha regarded him keenly before dropping smoothly down from the shelf. She looked at him again before striding toward him, stopping a foot away and opening the file.

"According to this, your name is Clint Barton. You originally come from upstate New York and been trained since you were eleven years old like I was. You currently worked for SHIELD."

She paused and looked up at him. "It wasn't until I read that that I began to get curious. If you worked for SHIELD what on earth are you doing over here? Certainly downsized from the biggest military organization in the world haven't you? I can only conclude that you didn't come here to work. You came here for a very specific purpose. And you wanted me to find this file. So I can only conclude that your reason for coming here…..is me."

He looked at her for a long moment and Natasha was suddenly possessed of the thought that this is what she would look like if she were a male and looking in the mirror. They both stood in the same way, crossed their arms in the same manner and had the same facial expressions.

"Very good," he said. "Director Fury sent me here for the express purpose of finding you."

"I didn't realize I was on SHIELD's radar."

"Then you are either not as observant as Fury thought, or you just haven't been paying attention," he said smoothly. "Most of the Red Room agents have either gone into hiding or been killed when the agency dissolved. You are the only one we were aware of that was still living."

"And so why have I aroused the interest of SHEILD?" Natasha asked. She didn't think it had anything to do with her time in the KGB but one could never be too certain.

"Director Fury has taken an interest in you specifically. He for some reason that he hasn't shared with me has a desire to see you work for SHIELD," he shrugged and gave her a wry smile. "I don't really understand why, but my job isn't to ask questions."

"And what possible reason could you give me to make me want to work for SHIELD?" Natasha asked. She was more curious than angry and had a feeling that Barton was accustomed to getting results. If his job was to get her to cross over to SHIELD, than she held all the cards. And he had a few questions to answer.

"Well," Barton began looking far too relaxed for an interrogation. "Fury knows that you're still being hunted by the Russian and Polish authorities. Now whether the crimes you've committed there were a result of your own making is not really my concern. The fact is that you have a record and it was only by the influence of your adoptive father with the BSS that you managed to get work here. Suppose SHIELD were able to clear you of all charges all across the globe?"

Natasha wasn't surprised very easily. But what Barton said shocked her. If it was possible to get her record cleared fully, than she could travel overseas without fear of getting caught by the local authorities. Sure she could use her magic to escape, but the idea of looking over the shoulder for the rest of her life like she had been doing since she found out Hermione was on the way was not a pleasant feeling.

It wasn't the life she wanted for her daughter and Stalin was still out there with all of his influence and the super soldier serum.

Barton, seeing she was considering what he was saying decided to sweeten the pot with the other information he had discovered while he was there.

"Plus, while you have enemies internationally, there are more who are on your personal vendetta list."

Natasha's head snapped up and her eyes narrowed at him. "What do you know?"

Barton's expression turned a little more serious. "Suppose I knew there was a Russian fugitive that you had a vendetta against for an abduction five years ago and that there had been next to no success in tracking him down?"

Natasha looked at him for a very long time. She had an intrinsic ability to see when people were lying. What worried her the most was that she could tell that what he was saying was the absolute truth.

"Look, just think about it for right now," Barton was saying. "I don't expect an answer right away. Unlike Fury I'm pretty patient. But I won't be here for much longer. Don't wait too long."

He turned and headed back for the elevator doors leaving Natasha to watch him in intense speculation.

"And how did you know I would find this Barton?" She demanded. "You sounded pretty confident that no one else would see this but me."

He punched the button for the elevator and the doors slid open to let him in. He turned around and smirked at her before the doors closed once more. "Like I said Romanov, our job is to gather Intel. I knew you didn't trust me from the first day you met me when you were training the new recruits. I just used that to my advantage."

The doors slid shut and Natasha gritted her teeth sucking in the air in a growl.

_I knew it,_ she thought. _Yup…..I think I hate that guy._

Ω

Needless to say, Natasha had a lot to think of over the next few days. She was so quiet that everyone in both houses noticed and Petunia questioned her once or twice as to what was wrong, but she remained tight lipped.

Thankfully after Barton had propositioned her, two days later Thor made an appearance and when Hermione was fast asleep in her bedroom upstairs the two sat in the kitchen downstairs with only one light on and spoke quietly about what Barton had proposed.

To Natasha's surprise, her significant other took it all in stride. She had known the moment she met him nearly a decade earlier that he had been a protector. As long as she was safe and kept herself and Hermione safe he didn't care what she did.

"Do you feel that this is the best way to get to Stalin?" He asked her, his deep rumbling voice echoing throughout the kitchen.

Natasha sighed. "It's not only him. Barton brought something to my attention that has been in the back of my mind since I fled Russia with Hermione nearly eleven years ago. I have a record. And there will still be people in Russia and Poland that are searching for me. There have been some things I have done on behalf of the Red Room that have violated certain laws in different countries and I have had to leave before they could arrest me."

Thor mused silently for a moment. "And there has been no sign of Stalin for the last six years?"

Natasha gave an angry sigh. "No, we've only uncovered smoke trails. Someone will get wind of him in some other country. Ivan will send the covert operatives division in to investigate, and the trail will be cold. There's been nothing."

This was followed by a series of choice curses in Russian. It was stopped when Thor reached out and took her hand, forcing her to look at him. There was a sincerity burning in his electric blue eyes that told her what he was about to say was significant.

"Natasha, to me the most important thing is that you and Hermione remain safe. If there are people who still carry a warrant for your arrest and the only way to make those people not a threat anymore is by joining this organization called SHIELD, than I think this is an opportunity to invest in both your and Hermione's future."

She stared at him as if he had grown three heads. "You're serious."

"Of course."

"And what about Hermione? Our entire lives are here. SHIELD headquarters is in Washington D.C. I don't want to move her across the world when her friends and family are here. If I was alone, I wouldn't hesitate. SHIELD is the gold standard of the military world. And if they can help me wipe my record clean, than its something I need to seriously consider. But there's our daughter to think of too."

To her surprise, he gave her a smile. "You are a witch Natasha. It's not as if to see our daughter you need to fly on a plane back and forth. Don't magicals reply on a much more simplistic means of transportation?"

Natasha blinked. Truthfully she had completely forgotten about apparition and means of a portkey. That would make things much simpler. Regulus could teach her how to employ the use of all those things prolifically.

She sighed. It seemed like things were falling into place.

"Do you not want to go?" He asked her, cutting right to the heart of the matter.

"No, that's not it. I want to ensure that our daughter is safe and you seem to have solved that problem. I don't want to simply walk into this blind. They told me what they can give me. But what is it that they want from me? Even Barton doesn't know."

His handsome faced smoothed out and she could tell he was thinking deeply about the question.

"Then I would suggest that you go there and see for yourself what it is that this Director Fury wants. If his motives are sinister and self serving, than you know what you need to do. I will be there to help you if a problem should arise. However, if you go there and you decide that this position is worth the risks of what it entails then you should take it."

Natasha blew out a breath. "I didn't think you'd be this rational about it."

Thor reached out and placed a hand on the side of her face, turning it gently so that he could look her in the face. There was nothing but sincerity in his eyes.

"Are we not partners in this endeavour?" He asked. "And as such does that not mean that I offer you my opinion? I do not feel this to be a sinister proposition and if it is well…..there are safeguards we've put in place."

He glanced down at the necklace hanging about her throat that she never took off from the incident years earlier.

"I do want to see what it is that SHIELD can offer me," she confessed. "And Barton could have gotten violent but he didn't. I have heard rumours about Nick Fury. He can be aggressive but in the line of work we're involved in, sometimes you have to be."

He took his hand from her face and sat back. "It seems you've made your decision then."

"I'd still like to take some more time to think and talk to Hermione about this. She's old enough to understand what's going on. She's very independent though. Something tells me that I think she would want me to go."

"You've raised her that way," Thor put in. "I have no doubt that when she's older she'll be able to…..how do the mortals say it? Give you a run for your money?"

Natasha laughed at his usage of the very human phrase and smiled.

"It wouldn't surprise me in the least if you're right."

Ω

"So does this mean I'm not going to see you every day?" Hermione asked the following morning.

"Not at all," Natasha said. "It's times like this when I'm glad we both have magic because we can communicate in a way Muggles can't. Your uncle Regulus agreed to set up a scrying charm so we can talk every day and I'll ensure to portkey home at least three times a week."

"Mum, there's no need to worry so much," Hermione said. "On the nights when you're not here, I'll stay with Aunt Tuney and I'm sure Dad will check in every so often. Plus in less than a year I'll be going away to school. I'm only going to be at Privet Drive consistently for another seven months or so. I can tell this is something you want to do. You don't get nearly as much action working with Granddad as you will if you're with SHIELD. Did you talk to Dad already?"

"I did. And he's behind the idea of me going after we talked about it."

"Well then what are you worried for? I'm ten years old, and I know how to fight like a grownup. You can think about how you prepared me for a fight if you're that anxious."

Natasha grimaced as she thought of her ten year old fighting off armed assailants and forced the memory down. "Just don't take any chances. I know you take after your father, but you take after me too. You're just as shrewd as I am. Use your instincts before you decide to fight."

"Yes Mum."

"Good. Now you better get on to school with Harry and Dudley. You don't want to be late."

Needless to say, Hermione had a lot to think about as she walked to school with her best mates.

"You're quiet Mione," Harry said as they entered the school grounds for Meadow Brook Primary. "Are you okay?"

"Yes Harry don't worry," the strawberry blonde said smoothly. "I'm just thinking about when we go to Hogwarts next year that's all."

Dudley's eyes lit up at the mention of Hogwarts. He was very excited to put what he had learned into practice.

"Don't remind me," Harry groaned. "I think Dad is more excited than any of us to see us off on that train."

"I just hope Mum doesn't cry," Dudley said grimacing. "I hate it when she cries."

Hermione smirked as they walked down the halls of the school to their classroom and hung up their coats and boots on the racks before entering. "I think you're out of luck there Dud. She's going to go from having you guys in the house twenty four seven to practically nothing. The next time she'll see you is at Christmas. Cut her a little slack."

Her tone had gotten a bit hard at this point and her best mates had given her surprised looks. Hermione had always been pretty easy going and level headed. Her mother and their godmother Aunt Tasha was the epitome of a cool thinker and they had never seen her lose her temper.

In the meantime, Hermione barely paid attention throughout the day. She was both excited for her mother and a little sad that she might not be there every day when she came home from school.

She also understood that her mother had a criminal record in several different countries and the only way to clear her of that record completely was to join SHIELD. She could also see that deep down, Natasha wanted to join SHEILD. She claimed she was happy working with Granddad, but Hermione could tell that her mother felt as if she had been put on a shelf with all the other new recruits. The BSS wasn't for her and both of them knew it.

_I just need to get used to the fact that she might not always be there when I come home now. Thank goodness for magic so we can talk every day. Something mum has always taught me is to combine magic with muggle means and that way you increase your unpredictability. The more you do that, the less vulnerable you'll be._

The light above her head in the classroom flickered and Hermione glanced up at the electricity above her head. Her palms tingled but she clenched them shut.

_You can practice when you get home. And in the meantime, you need to get ready for Hogwarts. There are going to be people there that don't like you and your friends. You need to be prepared._

Ω

Surprisingly, Barton wasn't that hard to find.

Natasha went to the archives early that morning to return the file she had taken so she wouldn't get anyone in trouble, and she happened to find Barton sitting on the same shelf she had been sitting on the day before looking through the files themselves.

"Did you know they include the worst pictures of us in these things?" he asked as Natasha drew closer.

The Black Widow crossed her arms and frowned at him. "It was my assumption that it makes us look more dangerous that way."

Barton smirked at her. "It's my opinion that we'd look dangerous no matter what we were wearing."

He closed the file he was reading and hopped down lightly from the shelf so he was standing in front of her. He was as light on his feet as she was and she was already getting the annoying brother vibes from him so that didn't endear him to her much.

"I take it your coming back here means you've come up with an answer for me?" He asked.

Natasha looked him up and down for a very long time. "What would I have to do exactly?"

Barton grinned.

Ω

The next few months went by surprisingly fast. The week after Natasha decided to take the job with SHIELD she flew to America with Clint Barton and met with Nick Fury. The Russian was a little surprised because in a lot of ways, he seemed like her direct to the point aggressive having a keen sense of justice manner. While she didn't really like him, she was able to develop a professional working relationship with him. Again she didn't like him, but she respected him.

She and Hermione spoke via the floo every evening and Natasha was as good as her word that she came over at least three nights a week.

Time passed quickly from when Natasha decided to join SHIELD and the winter passed smoothly without interruptions. Before Hermione knew it, it was July of the following year and the era of Hogwarts was about to begin.

It began on a Saturday morning in late July when an unfamiliar stormy grey owl landed on the sill of the kitchen window and hooted loudly. There were three letters tied to its legs and each bore an official seal.

The three children exchanged excited glances. Dudley jumped to his feet and ran to the doorway of the kitchen and yelled for his mum and dad while Harry went for the owl.

Sure enough the owl was carrying three official letters marked to Harry, Dudley and Hermione bearing the Hogwarts seal.

"What's all the yelling about son?" Regulus asked as he came yawning into the kitchen, trying his robe about himself.

"Our Hogwarts letters came dad!" Harry said excitedly. "Come here and we'll show you!"

Regulus's eyes brightened up considerably and he hurried over to them, suddenly all smiles. "Well why didn't you say so earlier? Open them up, let's see what we have!"

Hermione, Dudley and Harry pushed their bowls to the side, cereal completely forgotten at this point and tore into their letters with gusto.

It turned out to be a letter from the deputy headmistress welcoming them to Hogwarts and letting them know what they would need for the coming school year, along with a list of text books and cauldrons. Regulus had never been a big fan of Quidditch and surprisingly, it was something that Harry couldn't care less about either, despite his godfather's apparent obsession with it.

Since Sirius had gone to South America six years earlier, they had received regular updates from him. He was doing well and was even dating a Honduran women. She was also a teacher at the school for magical children where he was employed and was mixed with African and German heritage. Her name was Tunisia and Sirius seemed smitten.

He still fire called and talked to Harry and Dudley every evening and sometimes his girlfriend would talk to them as well. They knew he would want to know they had received their Hogwarts letters.

When Petunia heard that they had received their letters, a sad smile came over her face. Hermione had a feeling she was thinking about her sister, Harry's mother and how she had been forced to say goodbye to her every year when they were growing up.

"This is exciting," Regulus said with fervor. "Mione, when you get a chance, fire call your mother. Maybe there's a day when she can floo back and go to Diagon Alley with us."

Hermione's face lit up and she nodded eagerly. Despite how independent she was, she did miss her mother a great deal and not seeing her everyday did tend to wear on her a bit.

She knew her mother tried, she really did. But she was also doing what she loved and what she was born to do and Hermione could now lie well enough so that her mother would have to guess what she was thinking. She knew if she let anything slip about how she missed her mother that Natasha would want to return home and it was important to Hermione that she stayed in Washington. Natasha loved what she did and she wouldn't have been happy working with Granddad for the rest of her life.

Her mother's work also sounded fascinating. Their most current tussle included a raid of a series of pirate ships off the coast of Somalia that had somehow stolen SHIELD weapons.

Because SHIELD didn't negotiate, her mother and a special unit were sent in to take back what had been stolen.

It all sounded terribly exciting and Hermione sometimes had visions of doing the same thing when she was older and had left school. Both of her parents had grown up having war for a close companion, so she couldn't help but wonder if that was what she might be doing too.

"That's a good idea Uncle Reg," she said. "I'll tell her tonight and see if she can make it. I'm not sure if she's gotten back to Washington yet, but it's worth a try."

Since it was summertime, there wasn't much to do but return to their lessons with magic and history with Regulus. Harry was most excited for potions as a passion of his was cooking. Sometimes when Petunia would get home from work, he would have dinner ready and waiting for them with a big smile on his face. Potions seemed a lot like cooking and adding the right ingredients in the right order at just the right time and sliced or cut in such a way to achieve the desired result seemed to be a method that was right up his alley.

Dudley was excited for Herbology strangely enough as he had quite a green thumb and took over the work of his mother flower bed and back garden when the weather was warm.

For Hermione, she was most interested in Transfiguration and Defence against the Dark Arts. The latter class seemed like the magical version of what her mother did and she was interested to see how the world her mother walked away from defended itself against its enemies.

A date was set with her and the boys to go and see about their school supplies in Diagon Alley in the next few days. Hermione made a mental note to get in touch with her mother to see if she could come.

Later that afternoon when Harry and Dudley had gone to sleep, Hermione snuck down to the living room and threw a handful of green floo powder into fire and called out her mother's location.

The image of a room in the green flames appeared. It was a room that was clean in a way that it was sterile. It only had a bed, desk and a closet across the room directly across from her.

"Mum?" Hermione called out tentatively. No one at SHIELD knew her mother was a witch and Natasha wanted to keep it that way.

At least however she was getting along with her new partner Clint Barton.

Natasha had thought of him like that irritating classmate in school who never seemed bothered by anything but when he was in his element which was SHIELD he could become quite serious.

It turned out on that raid of the Somali pirate ships to take back the stolen weapons, he and Natasha had been involved in a hostile situation and had to fight back to back and for a few minutes, Natasha had been forced to have a partner once more and had had to trust Clint into watching her back even as she watched his.

She had come out of the situation with a new respect for him, and though she didn't trust him with all of her secrets, Hermione had a feeling it wouldn't be long before she told him.

He didn't know she had a daughter, but from what Natasha had told her about him, Hermione was sort of interested in meeting the archer whose vision was so sharp they called him Hawkeye.

Her mum and him had developed a good working relationship so far and Hermione was very curious to meet him. She knew her mother would not volunteer the information that she had a daughter readily, but if time passed and her and Barton's working relationship developed at a natural rate that it was going, than perhaps she would tell him.

He seemed to loosen up when he was in his element at SHIELD and she got to see more of the person than the agent.

However at the moment it appeared that her own mother agent was not in the room at the moment.

_I thought they were supposed to be back from Somalia tonight,_ Hermione wondered. _I'll try one more time before I ring off for the night._

"Mum?" She called out quietly once more.

All of a sudden, there was movement off to the right side of the screen by the door and Hermione saw that it had opened to reveal her mother coming in and shutting the door behind her before she dropped her bag on the floor and flopped onto the bed with a grunt.

Hermione giggled, she couldn't help it. She rarely ever saw her mother lose her cool and so seeing her display something as….normal as fatigue was funny.

Natasha's head snapped up at the sound and when she saw her daughters head sitting in the flames, she leapt off the bed like a gazelle.

"Mione! I'm so sorry, how long have you been waiting?" She asked kneeling by the flames.

Hermione grinned. "Don't worry mum, it was only for about five minutes. Did you just get back?"

"Yes and I wish I could tell you that Somalia was a destination vacation spot, but we were too busy tracking down pirates to really see the sights."

"Were you paired up with Barton again?"

Natasha nodded. "Apparently I'm the only one who can put up with him so Fury's decided that we're going to be partners permanently."

Hermione snorted, sounding for all the world like a younger version of her mother. "I'll bet that went over like a lead broom stick at first."

Natasha laughed. "Well I can't say I was the happiest person upon getting here, but he's not so bad. We actually have some things in common if we have enough time to actually talk."

"So when can I meet him?" Hermione asked cheerily.

Natasha raised an eyebrow at the strawberry blonde. "Mione he doesn't even know I have a kid. I plan to keep it that way for the next little while."

"Why?" The ten year old demanded. "No one at the BSS besides Granddad knew about me and I'm getting a little tired of feeling like a well-kept secret."

"Mione you know why we have to do this. I don't want a repeat of the incident that happened when you were four years old. If your father hadn't shown up when he did, I'm not sure what would have happened and all that happened because someone found out where I was and that you existed. I don't want to take the chance that something like that happens again."

Hermione folded her arms across her chest. She wasn't going to back down that easily. "I'm not four years old anymore mum. You taught me how to defend myself if someone tried to hurt me and that doesn't include all the crazy things like screaming for help and keeping pepper spray in my bag."

"Hermione Antonina Romanov Granger."

Uh oh.

Full names were never a good sign. And because Natasha so rarely used her full name, Hermione knew that when she did, it was serious.

"I will determine when and if I tell the people I work with that I have a kid. I don't have a normal nine to five job. I apprehend dangerous people who would use the information that I have a child in a negative way. That's already happened once….I'm not going to let it happen again."

Hermione had fallen quiet. Because of her eidetic memory, she remembered everything about the kidnapping experience when she was four years old. She remembered being afraid for her mother and discovering her powers for the first time with a thrill. She remembered the fear and the excitement when she had met her father for the first time.

She remembered all if it.

But most importantly, she remembered the possessed look on her mother's face as she took down all the men who tried to hurt Hermione with the deadly grace that made her one of the world's most feared assassins.

"Okay," she said contritely. "I'm sorry."

Natasha exhaled and nodded. "It's alright, now tell me about your day."

Hermione nodded and then her face lit up again as she remembered the reason for why she had called.

"We got our Hogwarts letters today," she said. "Uncle Regulus wants to go the day after tomorrow to Diagon Alley and get our supplies. He told me to fire call you and ask if you wanted to come."

Natasha's expression smoothed out. "Of course I want to come. Just let me know the time and I'll portkey back. Thank goodness for magic or we wouldn't be able to do this at all."

Hermione told her the time and the two ended the conversation before the strawberry blonde went back upstairs to bed.

She didn't get much sleep that night in the Evans-Black guest room as she was too busy thinking about what her mother had said. Had she really been that scared about what happened all those years ago?

_Of course she would be you ninny! She didn't know where dad was or if the two of you were going to make it out of the hostage situation alive! Not wanting to be afraid doesn't mean you get reckless. You should remember that. Your mum only wants people to know about you once she knows she can trust them. Maybe the day will come when she can fully trust Barton with the information about you, but until that day comes, you need to do exactly what she does…..wait and watch._

It was then and there that the ten year old made a promise to herself. She wouldn't become reckless or violent unless the situation demanded it absolutely. Her mother was a master negotiator and well trained in the art of using leverage to get what she wanted, but she was also very well spoken just like Hermione's dad and that would be the tool she would use first in order to resolve a situation.

_No more recklessness Hermione Granger, _she thought to herself._ You'll be quiet and you'll be stealthy. If someone insults you it's normally because they don't have enough brains or cunning to know how to do it with class. You're not your mother but you're not your father either. Don't get too confident. Like mum says, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. And you're too young to fall because you were too confident to see the pitfalls. You may have superpowers, but you're not invincible. And don't think for a second that you are. You may be a demi – god but that doesn't mean you can't die or that people can't hurt you. Remember that._

Ω

The conversation that mother and daughter had had a few nights before and the promise she had made to herself after had been carefully filed away in Hermione's brain so that she could take it out again to remember about not getting so confident she forgot about the fact that there were still people in this world that would try to hurt her.

And as they stepped into Diagon Alley two days later, Hermione determined that she wouldn't forget it.

Her mother was with them and Hermione hadn't realized how much she had missed her. It would be better in two months because she would be going to school and not be thinking about it as much, but for now, she was glad she was here.

Harry and Dudley had wanted to know all about her escapades at SHIELD and even Regulus seemed highly intrigued.

As Hermione, Harry and Dudley hurried down the Alley streets talking about what they were going to get, the two adults hung back and spoke quietly amongst themselves.

"Tasha?" Regulus asked quietly as they strolled along. "There's something I want to ask you."

"What is it Reg?" The brunette asked.

The younger Black rubbed his wrist as they walked along. Petunia hadn't been feeling well and had opted to stay at home for the time being.

"You know because of my….history I can't really be a part of the wizarding world anymore unless I found out some way to get this dark mark off my arm. That being said, because of the fact that Riddle tried to turn Harry into a partial Horcrux I have a sinking feeling that he's going to return and when he does, he's going to call all of his followers to him."

He paused and looked at her so she would know exactly what he was getting at. "Including me."

Natasha's eyes narrowed. "You think this genocidal magical maniac is going to come back from the dead?"

"Tasha, he's not dead. He's merely a spirit floating on the edges of life until he finds a way to get a new body. But he is most certainly not gone."

"So what are you trying to ask me Reg?" Natasha asked. "You're getting at something, what is it?"

The youngest Black sighed. "If he returns before we find all of his Horcruxes…..I want to have some sort of means of protecting myself and my family from him. You taught me how to fire a gun when we broke Siri out of prison…..but I kind of want to take it further than that."

"Meaning?"

Regulus took a deep breath. "If I wanted to join SHIELD….how would I go about doing that?"

Natasha was very rarely surprised and the only other time she had been shocked was when she found out she was pregnant with Hermione. So you might imagine just how unorthodox a request it was to make her stop in the middle of the alley and stare at Regulus as if he had grown three heads.

"I beg your pardon?" She asked enunciating every word.

"It's not that crazy of a request is it?" He asked defensively. "I mean I have some experience."

"Regulus breaking your older brother out of a maximum security prison would hardly count as credible experience in the eyes of SHIELD," Natasha explained lowering her voice exponentially so no one around them would hear. "Now if you're really serious about wanting to get some experience to defend yourself and your family if this maniac does return, going the SHIELD route isn't necessarily the way to go about it. I can do what I can about training you when I am here."

"It's not just about defending myself if the Dark Lord comes back Tasha," Regulus explained in urgent tones. "I can't legally go back to the life I had before because I'll go to prison and I've been declared dead in the world I grew up in. I don't want to sit and do nothing the rest of my life and live off the Black Fortune while my wife is the one who works. I want to contribute to the life I have with her and our two sons as well."

"Reg, your intentions are honorable and I applaud what you want to do, but there are plenty of jobs in the muggle world that you could do without having to kill people."

At this point, they had entered a store called Flourish and Blotts and the three kids had headed for the textbook section.

Regulus turned to the brunette. "I've already talked to Petunia about acquiring a job in the Muggle world and she told me to find a job of any considerable pay, I would need to have a high school diploma, a college or university degree and then perhaps a masters or a doctorate. All of those things cost a considerable amount of money. And yes I could empty the Black Coffers and sell off our properties, but when I sat down and really thought about it, I realized I don't want to do that."

"So maybe I should ask you this Reg," Natasha said quietly. "Why do you want to join SHIELD?"

There was a sofa by the doors of Flourish and Blotts and and the two adults sat down on it. Regulus folded his hands on his knees and sat forward. Natasha was a little surprised at his earnestness.

"Natasha, there is an intrinsic value you in what you do. Yes your job description does entail some killing, but it's also more than that. You take out dictators, stop genocides and free cities from tyranny. You remove nuclear weapons before they can ever be launched, minimize the loss of life and neutralize threats before they ever happen. That's what I want to be a part of."

Natasha went quiet. Regulus sounded deadly serious and this was obviously something he had thought about for a very long time.

"I need to do this Tasha."

The brunette reached and put a hand on his shoulder. "Why Reg? Why is this so important to you? There's something else going on here."

Regulus sat back on the sofa and sighed. "Tasha all my life, I was raised to think a certain way, to see those who had magic as being beneath me. It was only when I saw what the Dark Lord was capable of that I realized how wrong he was and in turn how wrong my parents were and how wrong I was. I spent my entire life following people who talked about non magical genocide and the man who was in charge of it would have gone through with his plan if he hadn't been stopped by an infant on that Halloween night eleven years ago. For once, I want to be on the side that's right. I want to be on the side that saves lives rather than ends them."

That hadn't been what she was expecting to hear and so Natasha sat back on the couch and took a deep breath.

"Well alright then."

Regulus looked, surprise entering his dark eyes. "Really?"

"Yes. If this is something you're that passionate about than who am I as your friend to try and stop you?"

She paused here and made sure he was looking at her when she said her next words. "But I warn you Regulus it will not be easy. You need to be asked to join SHIELD. It's not as if you send in an application and wait to hear from them if they want you in for a job interview. You need practical experience first and breaking your brother out of prison does not count. So here's what I am going to do. I'm going to train you myself, and when I think you're ready, I'll recommend you to Ivan. You need to have some experience with them first and you need to prove yourself above and beyond what you think you can do. In order to gain entry to the BSS you need to pass a series of tests, both practical and theoretical. They need to know that you can shoot a gun with accuracy and interrogate efficiently before they accept you. If they do, you need to stand out from the rest of the recruits. So in a nutshell, you need to be among the best of the best before I go to Fury to talk you up. Do you understand?"

Regulus nodded.

"Good, we'll start tomorrow. I also need to know that your stamina is up to par so that will include running and lots of physical education. When I'm not here, you're going to have to carry it out yourself with discipline."

"You don't pull any punches do you?" Regulus asked half joking.

"I never do," Natasha said seriously. "If this is something you're serious about, it's going to include a lot of hard work. I need to know if you're up for that."

"I wouldn't have mentioned it if I wasn't."

"Good. We'll start tomorrow then."

Just then, Harry, Dudley and Hermione hurried over, each of them carrying a stack of the textbooks they would need in their hands.

"Whoa there you three," Regulus said. He pulled his wand and cast a feather light charm on all three stacks of books without even blinking.

Seeing him do that without batting an eyelash gave Natasha an idea. She and Regulus had an advantage over the rest of the agents that they might potentially work with because they had a grasp of magic that the others didn't

A vision appeared in her head with Regulus blocking an attack of a bomb while simultaneously taking out the ones who had launched it.

Doing two things at one time was a skill and in a way, those who could use magic were lucky because all it needed was a bit of training in order to harness that skill.

As they got up to leave, Natasha eyed the back of Regulus's head and smirked to herself.

_If you want it badly enough Reg, you're going to make one hell of an agent and if you prove yourself, there is no way Fury is going to be able to pass you up. You might not be genetically altered like I am, but in a way you don't have to be because you already are. Your metabolism is faster than most humans because of your magic. You age more slowly than the rest of the population because of your core and your reflexes are already really fast. I teach you how to shoot a gun with accuracy in one hand and shield a bullet with your wand in the other…..you'd be the ultimate agent because you'd be unstoppable._

As they headed for the robe shop to outfit the kids in their school uniforms, Natasha grinned to herself. She could already see the possibilities for her friend.

Because once they combined magical and muggle technology….the possibilities were endless.

Ω

**So this chapters a little bit shorter than the other ones, but there were a few twists in there that I hope made up for it. Let me know what you think. The next chapter will be the start of Hogwarts and the Sorting into different houses. Enjoy and don't forget to review!**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23

The last month before school began seemed to pass by for everyone quickly but Regulus.

Natasha was as good as her word when she promised that she would whip him into shape before she returned to SHIELD.

Every morning saw them up early, running one mile, than two than three which was followed by martial arts, kick boxing, wrestling and weapons training.

It was a good thing Regulus had an advanced metabolism from his magical core and so wasn't quite as exhausted as he would have been if he were strictly human.

That wasn't to say that he wasn't exhausted however.

She had also trained him on his negotiating techniques and was surprised that Regulus was able to employ his magic in that as well with some mild compulsion charms. Natasha had no qualms about the ethics of a situation like that because it got the job done.

And on the day that came to drop Harry, Hermione and Dudley off at the train station so they could make their way through school, he was barely able to drag himself out of bed.

Sirius had said goodbye to all three of the kids the night before and wished them luck. He was sure that all three of them would get into Gryffindor.

They had their own opinions on the matter.

Poor Regulus was wincing with every step he took as he came down the stairs, and Natasha had said she had better apparate them all to the train station because she didn't want him to lose focus and splinch himself.

When they landed outside the train station, Natasha than proceeded to receive a phone which turned out to be from her father.

In it, he wanted to see Regulus stat for an interview and in that instant, all pain left the younger Black as it was the call he had been waiting for.

The only catch was that the interview was right then and so they had leave early. Both Natasha and Regulus genuinely looked apologetic but the three of them insisted that they go, Harry and Dudley especially.

So after bidding Petunia and Natasha and Regulus good bye, the three adults apparated out and three eleven year old hurried into the train station to find platform nine and three quarters.

Regulus had told them a few months ago that they would have to walk through the barrier before platforms nine and ten in order to get to the train station where they would board the Hogwarts Express.

They had just reached platform nine with their carts and animals, when all of a sudden, a loud voice pierced the air.

Hermione put a hand out and stopped Harry and Dudley from going forward. "Wait."

A rather stocky red haired woman who was slightly plump was pushing her way through the crowd to what appeared to be the barrier to platform nine and three quarters.

"Every year….packed with Muggles," she called out loudly to the brood of children following along behind her. "Come on, platform nine and three quarters this way."

Hermione counted four. There was an older boy who looked very self-important along with two others as alike as twins and finally there was another girl who looked about their age with scarlet red hair and blue eyes.

"Mum," she groaned. "Do you really have to do that? I don't know what Professor Dumbledore told you but – "

"He told me Ginevra Septima Weasley that when we were to arrive I was to be on the lookout for someone. He might not know how to get into the platform and that we were supposed to help him."

The trio exchanged glances. Was she talking about Harry?

Dudley made a move to go out, but Hermione shot out a hand and stopped him. "Wait."

"They know how to get through the barrier," Dudley said looking at her quizzically. "What are we waiting for?"

"Don't you think it was odd that she was yelling about muggles in a train station full of them? Almost as if she were looking for someone who would know what the word Muggles meant?"

"True Mione," Harry said. "And she also mentioned something about knowing where platform nine and three quarters was…..almost as if she knew someone might be lost."

Dudley nodded. "Let's follow them at a distance and see where they're going."

Hermione pulled out her wand and practiced the disillusionment charm that Uncle Regulus had taught her. He said it was very useful when someone wished to avoid being seen and she had a feeling it would help in this case.

They crept along behind the family of red heads until the mother in question stopped at the barrier between platform nine and three quarters before sighing and gesturing her children through the stone arch.

She glanced around one final time before sighing and walking through herself.

The minute she was gone, Hermione released the spell and the three best friends looked at each other.

"I guess she's just shown us the way in," Harry said. "Shall we?"

"Ladies first," Dudley said cheerfully and both boys pulled their carts aside to let the strawberry blonde pass.

Hermione stuck her tongue out at them but took the lead and ran at a slow pace towards the barrier.

She tried not to grimace as her instincts told her that she was about to run slam bank into a brick wall.

Instead however, there was a cooling sensation, as if she had just passed through a shadow and when she opened her eyes, she found she was standing in a train station identical to the one outside. Except there was only one vehicle in this station and it was a crimson red color with the words: _Hogwarts Express_ painted in gold on the side.

"Well I suppose this is it then," Harry said as he and Dudley came up alongside her. "We have arrived.

"Let's get the luggage on and then we'll find an empty compartment," Dudley suggested.

The train was already puffing smoke and the three of them had no doubt that a departure was imminent.

Hermione liked the old fashioned-ness of the train right away. It reminded her of the locomotives one might see from the world war two years.

After loading their luggage onto the train, the trio found an empty compartment near the back and settled in with their pets to watch the countryside race by.

All were silent as they thought about the coming school year.

Having known how to cast spells already, they were already well ahead of the incoming class. Petunia cautioned them not to show off however as it wouldn't endear them to their class mates.

"What house do you suppose we'll get into?' Dudley asked.

"Slytherin without a doubt," Hermione and Harry said at exactly the same time.

Dudley began to laugh. "I knew it was a bad idea to get you that book on the Hogwarts houses last Christmas Mione. You've been obsessed with it ever since!"

"I have not," the strawberry blonde said indignantly. "Can I help it if I'm eager to learn about my new school? And anyway, Harry didn't even get a book like that from you, so what's his excuse?"

Harry shrugged. "I like snakes?"

It was true, they had found a beautiful albino python with emerald eyes like Harry's at the menagerie in Diagon Alley a week before. Upon seeing it, her best mate had pronounced it perfect and was willing to pay whatever price to get it.

Regulus had said it was the perfect pet and of course they had to get it, despite Petunia's leery protests.

Harry had begged and pleaded and said he would take care of it himself and that they wouldn't have to lift a finger and finally she had broken down.

He had pronounced the snake Caspian. He and Dudley had always liked fantasy and because Petunia had read to them books like the Chronicles of Narnia when they were small, he had always liked the name.

Hermione's pet wasn't quite as elaborate as his. She had selected what was called a Storm Phoenix because of its deep grey color, the exact shade of thunder clouds and the white tips of its feathers that flashed when it flew. It could set itself ablaze just like any other phoenix but she had deemed the bird perfect for her. She named it Rynden.

Dudley was much simpler than that and had simply selected an orange ginger cat with amber colored eyes. He called it Tango, much to the teasing of his two best mates. Currently it was sitting in his lap fast asleep while he read up on their herbology textbook for the third time.

"Dud I think you have that memorized by now," Hermione put in chuckling when he stuck his tongue out at her.

"I happen to like plants," he shot back and closed the book. "Besides if I end up in Hufflepuff, it says in the handbook that Professor Sprout will be my head of house and it wouldn't hurt to become her favorite student early."

"Kissing up to the teachers already Dud?" Harry asked his cousin. "That doesn't sound like you."

"Besides you won't have to worry about that," Hermione said. "We're all going to be in the same house, either Slytherin or Ravenclaw."

"How are you so convinced about that Mione?" Dudley asked.

The strawberry blonde grinned at him. "Call me psychic, besides we've read up on all the houses, you know that either Ravenclaw or Slytherin would be what would suit us best."

"Finally someone who agrees."

Their heads shot up and the trio beheld a boy about their age with very pale blonde hair and icy blue grey eyes standing in the open doorway of the compartment.

"And who are you?" Dudley asked.

"Draco Malfoy," the boy replied. "May I sit down?"

Hermione and the other two exchanged glances. They remembered Uncle Regulus telling them about his cousin Narcissa and how she had married Lucius Malfoy, so this boy wasn't unfamiliar to him.

What was a little odd was that Dudley was now related to him through marriage.

_The Malfoys are blood supremacists, _Hermione thought to herself. _I wonder if he's trying to drum up support for his father's cause._

She and the boys exchanged another look and decided not to send him away just yet. Uncle Reg had said to make allies, and it would be an ironic twist to have one of them be the son of a former Death Eater.

"Of course," Hermione replied and he nodded sharply before sitting down next to her. "What are all your names?"

"This is Dudley Dursley," Hermione said pointing at her blonde best friend. "I'm Hermione Romanov Granger, and this is Harry Potter."

They had learned a while back that Harry's identity was going to come out sooner or later and they should just prolong it until it was absolutely necessary.

Draco's eyes widened exponentially. "Good lord! I heard rumors that you might be coming to Hogwarts this year, but I wasn't sure I believed them."

Harry shrugged. "Well, here I am. You found me."

Draco paused and looked at Hermione and Dudley, a look of confusion and distrust on his face. "But what are you doing hanging out with these….Muggles."

Dudley bristled, but before he could say anything Harry spoke up. "These Muggles happen to be my friends."

"Besides," Hermione said. "You weren't listening to my full name. Romanov Granger. If you read anything about purebloods outside of Britain, you would know that Romanov is the name for the Russian wizarding royalty who went all but extinct in 1914. My mother and I are the last of that line."

Draco looked dumbfounded. "I never knew that."

Hermione gave him a wry smile. "Well look at that. You learn something new everyday."

Harry had toned down the wariness and Dudley was looking a little calmer as well so she took that as a sign to keep talking. "And Dudley here happens to be Harry's cousin, so if you insult him, you insult Harry too."

Surprisingly Draco had the decency to look at least a little contrite. "Sorry."

"It's alright," Dudley said. "You're a product of your upbringing. You've never been around Muggles or Muggleborns so you don't know much about them and we're open to speculation. Hermione's the only pureblood we know and she certainly doesn't act like one."

"Thank Dud," Hermione said giving him a look.

"I'm just saying."

Harry shook his head at the two of them and got back to the blonde. "Okay, so Draco you seem nice enough and the three of us, we like making new friends. You're the first kid with magic we've known outside of each other. But you have to know if you want to be friends with us, we don't really do insults. You gotta be friends with everyone we're friends with. Okay?"  
Hermione took a moment to look the blonde over in that moment, and could see the inner struggle that was happening mirrored on his face. He had obviously had a sheltered childhood and had been taught that being even around a Muggle was a bad thing.

Hermione knew all about blood supremacists because Uncle Regulus had told her that he was one before he had woken up from his coma.

In a way, she felt kind of sorry for them. They were missing out on a wonderful aspect of life that society dictated they stay away from.

Draco had obviously never had any real friends that he could depend on to watch his back and stick up for him and she could tell he was kind of hungry to experience that.

There was a tussle between obedience and his own desires going on. Her mother had taught her how to read people's faces like a book and being on eleven, Draco didn't really know how to censor his expressions like Natasha did.

His own desires won out in the end.

"Okay," he said and immediately the tense atmosphere in the compartment evaporated.

"Good," Dudley said. "Now maybe you can help us beat Hermione at Wizards Chess. Her mum taught us how to play it and Hermione's beaten us every single time."

Draco grinned and the expression made an extraordinary difference on his otherwise mean and distrustful face. He actually looked like an eleven year old who had been accepted into a group of friends.

"It's all about strategy," Draco said eagerly and moved closer to Hermione as the three of them set up the game. "It's more about watching your opponent than it is watching the chess pieces."

"See, that's what I've been trying to teach these two, but they don't get it," Hermione said.

They had just gotten started with the game when all of a sudden, there was a tap on the door and the compartment slid open to reveal a somewhat pudgy boy with brown hair.

"Has….has anyone seen a toad?" he asked.

When all shook their heads, the boy appeared about to burst into tears. "I keep losing him and I can't find him! What's my gran going to say?"

Hermione looked at him sympathetically. "What's your name?"

"N-Neville."

Hermione glanced at her three new friends. "Okay Neville, I think I know how we can find your toad. What's his name?"

"T-Trevor."

"Okay."

Hermione whistled and Rynden came flying and landed on her shoulder. She had let open the window so he could get some fresh air and go flying above the train instead of being cooped up in a stuffy compartment.

Neville's eyes widened. "That's a Storm Phoenix! I've read about them. They're supposed to be able to sense storms and withstand lightning! They're also supposed to be really rare. How did you find one?"

"Neville, I will be happy to explain everything about my pet after we've found yours. Now did you know that phoenixes are also birds of prey?"

He shook his head.

Hermione looked down at the bird. "Rynden, I need you to do me a favor. I need you to fly down length of the train and see if you can find a large brown toad named Trevor. Check near the toilets too, toads like damp places."

The grey phoenix leapt from her arm and soared out the open door and Hermione turned to Neville once more.

"Would you like to join us? Draco here was just going to show us how to play Wizard's Chess."

"I….I don't want to be a bother," the other boy said shyly.

"Nonsense mate," Dudley called. "I know Hermione and she wouldn't have asked if she didn't want you here. Come on and sit down. You can show us how to play this game because Harry and I are completely lost."

Neville finally let Hermione drag him back over to the seats and sit him down. He and Draco gave each other wary looks, but Hermione decided she was going to ignore everything except blood.

They had no sooner gotten into the thick of the game, when there was a screech and Rynden flew back into the open compartment with a large green and brown frog clutched in his talons.

"Trevor!" Neville cried when the bird dropped the amphibian into his lap. "I was worried sick. Don't you go running off again."

The frog responded with a happy croak.

They had just gotten back into the game when all of a sudden, a voice could be heard from down the hall calling out for Neville.

"Neville!" called out a sing song voice and a small blonde girl with curly golden locks skipped into view and stopped at the compartment door. She was wearing a white blouse and a long blue skirt and sandals on her feet with what appeared to be corn husks in her ears. "I checked down the left side of train for Trevor, but I couldn't' find him. Susan's checking the other side of the train. Are you sure the Nargles didn't take him?"

"It's alright Luna," Neville said cheerfully. "Hermione here found him for me. Why don't you come in and sit down."

"Alright," the little blonde said doing just that. "There certainly seem to be less Nargles here than the other places on the train."

"Hermione, Harry, Dudley Draco this is my friend Luna Lovegood. I've known her since I was little."

"Hello," the little blonde said with a dreamy smile.

"Aren't you the one they call Looney Lovegood?" Draco asked suspiciously.

Neville glared at him and Hermione frowned. "Now that wasn't very nice."

Luna simply smiled however. "I don't mind. Looney is just another term for someone who sees things differently than someone else."

"Very well said," Harry agreed. "Now why don't you come help us beat Hermione and Draco at Wizard's Chess?"

"I'd love to."

They were joined soon after by another one of Neville's friends named Susan Bones. She had curly red hair that floated about her face like living flames and a round cheerful face. They invited her in as well and after a slightly wary look at Draco, she agreed.

Looking around at all of her new friends, Hermione couldn't help but think that this was going to be a very good year.

Ω

A few hours later, Hermione and her group of six friends exited the train at Hogsmeade and taking their pets in their cages followed the half giant Hagrid to the edge of the platform and down a small slope to a dock where it appeared that there were two dozen small anchored and waiting for them.

"No more than four to a boat!" Hagrid called out. Hermione, Dudley, Luna and Neville all piled into one boat and Harry Draco and Susan got into another with a bespectacled boy by the name of Terry Boot.

"Everybody in?" Hagrid asked. "Alright then. Forward!"

Instantly the boats lurched away from the docks, startling a few of the first years.

"Look up ahead everyone!" Hagrid called out. "Ye'll get your first look at Hogwarts in a moment. Just around the bend here."

There was a loud "Oooooh!" from many of the first years and Hermione looked up to see the building she would call home for the next seven years.

_It certainly is impressive, _she thought.

The narrow stretch of river had opened suddenly onto the edge of a great black lake. Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.

"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as the first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy that hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbor, where they clambered out onto rocks and pebbles.

"My auntie said the best years of her life were at this place," Susan whispered to Harry and Draco in their boat. "I didn't realize what she meant until I saw it."

Both boys nodded in wonder.

Hermione meanwhile had caught sight of something strange.

There was a tall figure standing to the left of the steps going up the castle. There was a strip of land to the left of the stairs that led out into the water before tapering off and the figure was standing on it which had caught her attention.

It was a tall figure and seemed to be enshrouded all in red, but when the wind blew one more time and they got a little closer, Hermione could see a flash of silver like armor tied to the red and then shock of blonde hair.

As they got closer and her vision sharpened, she realized with a start who it was.

_Dad._

The god of lightning was standing on the strip of land that looked out onto the Black Lake and his eyes were fixed on the boats of first years that were nearing the opposite side of the shore. He was dressed in his battle armor and red cloak as if he had just come from a fight, but she hadn't seen him in a few weeks so this was a very welcome surprise. She could feel his gaze on her and when they locked eyes, Hermione couldn't stop the huge smile that split her face apart.

"Mione?" Dudley said looking at her oddly. "What are you smiling at?"

"Nothing," the strawberry blonde replied. "I just have a really good feeling about this place."

She could tell from the oblivious looks of everyone who was still staring at the castle that her father must have performed a spell to ensure that he couldn't be seen. He told her he used incantations like that in battle sometimes.

The boats pulled up to the dock and all piled out.

Hagrid began to lead all the first years towards the large doors of the castle, but Hermione hung back, eyes on her father.

"Mione?" Harry asked quietly as her friends passed her. "Are you coming?"

She nodded and thought up a quick excuse. "I just want to have a quick look at the view. You go on, I'll join you in a minute."

"Alright."

She slid back in the crowd and waited until the last of the first years had gone inside and the door had closed before she turned around, saw her father waiting for her and grinned.

He bent down and gave her a hug and Hermione smiled.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she'd pulled back. "I didn't think I would see you for another couple of weeks."

"No task your grandfather gives me would be enough to make me miss your first day of school," the god said with a warm smile. "Did you bring your birthday present?"

She nodded and pulled open the cloak of her school uniform to reveal the twin knives tucked into the belt of her dark uniform. She had made sure they were disillusioned so no one would see them.

"I never go anywhere without them," she said. "And Mum's been teaching me how to use them."

"Good, however I don't think that keeping them constantly on your person in a school full of children is a good idea, so while you are in classes I would keep them locked away in your trunk."

Hermione sighed. "Alright."

Thor looked up at the castle with a wry smile. "For Midgard, this is a beautiful place. I have a feeling that you will enjoy your time here."

Hermione smiled at the school. "I think I will too. I've made quite a few new friends already and I have a feeling I'm going to need them. How's Uncle Loki?"

"As mischievous as ever," her father said with a sigh. "He says to wish you well on your first year of school and to not do anything that he wouldn't."

"Well that pretty much means that I can do anything," Hermione said cheerfully.

Her father laughed and squeezed her hand. "I would be wary around some of the teachers in this school, especially the headmaster. He thinks he is above reproach a he seems to have taken a great interest in your friend Harry."

"It's because of the stupid prophecy surrounding his birth," Hermione growled. "There seem to be a whole bunch of asinine crackpots in this world that take the idea of prophecies as the gospel truth."

"I would not disregard the truth of a prophecy so readily little spark. There is always a grain of truth to each every future prediction."

Hermione looked at him skeptically. "Really?"

"Indeed. And you must always be wary of which part turns out to be true because the unknown can be sinister."

"Well this is one prophecy that Harry told me he's not going to let control him," Hermione said firmly. "I'm not going to let it define my school years."

"And I'm not saying it has to, but I do want you to keep it in mind in the coming months."

Hermione looked at her father suspiciously. "Do you know something that I don't?"

He smiled at her. "The future is never a known thing little spark. I want you to always keep it in mind."

"I will."

"Excellent, now I've delayed you for too long, I'm sure your friends will be waiting for you."

Hermione glanced at the castle and muttered a curse under her breath. "Harry and Dudley are probably wondering where on earth I am."

She gave her father a hug goodbye.

"Give your mother my love when you see her," he said and she gave him a cheeky grin. "You can tell her yourself when you see her."

He smirked back at her. She knew his relationship with her mother was a complicated one but that there was a lot of love between them even though they didn't really acknowledge it in words.

"Very well."

She gave her father one more hug and hurried for the doors of the castle.

"Do well this year," he called after her. "And for the love of Odin, don't be reckless like your mother. I may be immortal but between the two of you, you are both enough to give me grey hair."

Hermione smirked, blew him a kiss and then opened the doors to the castle. The entry hall was empty and she realized everyone else had already entered the great hall without her.

She could hear one of the professors calling out names and they had already reached the letter G.

"Hermione Romanov Granger."

_Show time._

The strawberry blonde pushed the large double doors of the great hall open and strode into the room, complete ignoring everything else but the professor who had called her name and the small group of first years that were waiting at the foot of a set of stairs that led up to a high table.

She didn't see Susan or Dudley among them and figured they had already been sorted.

As Hermione strode down the long length of stone between the two tables to the front of the room, she was aware of all the curious eyes on her.

It was a little bit like when the new girl first walks into her new school when attendance is being called and everyone else is curious about her as well so everyone stares at her.

Instead of being awkward or nervous however, she remained completely focused and strode down the aisle toward the first years, looking neither to the right nor to left.

There's something to be said about having the confidence to walk through a group of people like a total badass like Hermione was doing just now.

In that moment, she felt more like her mother than ever as this was something her mother had taught her to do.

Harry, Draco Neville and Luna still had yet to be sorted and so were waiting for her among the group of other first years.

Hermione smiled at them before walking to the stairs and striding up to them to the stool where the old hat was.

She was glad that Uncle Regulus had prepared them beforehand for what to expect. She smiled at the professor who had read her name off the list and sat down on the stool before putting the hat onto her head.

_"__Hmmm…..very interesting," _said a small voice in her ear. _You do seem to carry a good deal of secrets Miss Romanov-Granger. A mother who is involved with an international military group that deals with crime all around the world and a father who is a god from another realm. My, my, my I do believe its several hundred years since I last sorted a demigod."_

"You did?" Hermione thought to the hat curiously. "Who was it?"

_ "__Oh they are long since dead now and it would not be worth repeating their name, but in a way you remind me of him. You're ambitious, cunning and highly intelligent. You possess a good deal of bravery, but you are smart about how to use it. You're also incredibly loyal but only to those who have earned your respect. Yes indeed, I think I know just where to sort you."_

"You are the expert here," Hermione thought. "You've been doing this longer than I've been alive."

_"__Oh and charming too, yes indeed I have no doubt that you will do well in SLYTHERIN!"_

The last word was shouted to the rest of the hall and there was a breath of silence before the table under the green and silver banner with the serpent exploded into applause.

Hermione slid off the stool and put the hat back on before bowing to it and it doing to same and hopped over to the table.

She was immensely pleased to see that Dudley was already there waiting for her.

"Well done," he whispered. "Where were you anyway? The Sorting started and after Susan and I were sorted I could see Harry was beginning to get worried."

"I'll tell you about it later," Hermione whispered back. "The long and short of it was that my father was here and he wanted to talk to me."

"He was?!"

Hermione silenced him with a glare. "Yes. Now hush, I'll tell you all about it later, I want to see where the rest of our friends go. Speaking of which, where was Susan sorted?"

"Hufflepuff. She said she was pretty sure she would get sorted there since most of her family's been in that house before."

Sure enough, Hermione saw the cheerful red head sitting with the badgers and waved at her before she waved back.

By this time, the professor had reached the L's and Neville's name was called. He hurried forward looking a little nervous.

His sorting took a while as he seemed to be arguing with the Hat about something before it hollered out: "GRYFFINDOR!"

Neville, looking shocked and a little dazed, handed the hat back to the professor and staggered off to the table where the lions were sitting.

He gave Hermione and Dudley a weak grin from across the room.

After that it was Luna's turn.

The whimsical blonde skipped up to the hat, put it on her head and was under for no more than a minute before the brim opened and the hat shouted out: "RAVENCLAW!"

Luna skipped back to the table, the dreamy expression on her face unchanged.

After that was Draco who was looking a little paler than usual but like Luna, the hat was on his head for no more than a minute before it shouted out: "SLYTHERIN!"

Hermione and Dudley cheered wildly as the blonde got a sick look of relief on his face. He handed the hat back to McGonagall and hurried over to the table of the snakes before sitting down across from them.

"Well done mate," Dudley whispered.

"Thanks."

Harry was the last one to be sorted and when the word Potter rang out in the room the entire Great Hall went deathly quiet.

"Did she say Potter?"

"The Harry Potter?"

"I didn't even see him on the train!"

"Sit down, I can't see him properly!"

Hermione could practically see Harry rolling his eyes as he strode purposefully to the hat and slid it on his head.

His sorting took at least five minutes before the hat finally hollered out: "SLYTHERIN!"

Dudley, Draco and Hermione all cheered wildly while Harry got a big grin on his face as he walked toward their table.

Hermione's grin was the biggest of all.

This was going to be one hell of a year.

Ω

**I apologize for the shortness of this chapter because I was experiencing a little writers block. So now Harry, Hermione and Dudley have friends in all four of the houses. I think this is important for school unity and I also included Susan in the group because she someone who's so little talked about in the stories I felt it only fair to give her her day in the sun. I had to include Luna because she's one of my favorites as well. There will not be any pairings until fourth year so you have a ways to go in terms of that. Post your comments down below and let me know what you think of the Sorting! Enjoy!**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Natasha Romanov would fully admit that she was not a patient person.

Since she had come to England she found that her impatience in her personal life had tripled with regards to everything that had happened since she found out that she was carrying Hermione.

Her impatience with regards to Hermione had increased, with regards to laying low had increased as well as to her significant other.

She wasn't mundane enough to try and place a word like boyfriend on what she and Thor had because she wasn't entirely convinced that was what it was. It was something far deeper and more personal and using a word to describe them such as dating would just sound cheap and silly.

She had known him for eleven years and yet she still didn't entirely know what it was that they were to each other. If she were to use such a term she would use the word exclusive, but that was as clear as she could define it. To this day she still bore the marks he had given her on her arm when Hermione was four and the silver had grown no less lustrous since the hour it had been inked upon her skin.

She wasn't a domestic but she had a house and a daughter, she wasn't married yet she sometimes lived with a man….it was all very odd. The house Ivan had given her to hide out in was as much his second home as it was her first.

Thor considered it a refuge when he came to earth as all he had to do when he left Asgard to see them was spend time with her and their daughter.

He had often told her how nice it was that when he came to see the two of them, they were all he had to focus on and all he wanted to focus on. It gave her a nice feeling inside when her family was together.

The odd time they would get together with Petunia and Regulus as well when he had shown up over the past eight years since her two close friends had learned of his existence.

But beyond defining what their relationship was in part, Natasha had felt her patience decrease for how the events in her life were going.

Hermione was away at boarding school in Scotland, she was catching criminals all over the world and Thor was playing the role of diplomatic prince for his father in Asgard.

They were all busy…..starting their lives or continuing them in Thor's case and Natasha couldn't help but feel….disconnected.

Her family was scattered across the world and the galaxy and they were all at the mercy of others when they could decide to be together again.

At the moment, she and Regulus were walking back to Privet Drive. They could have apparated but the youngest Black needed to think.

The call they had received just as they had dropped the kids off at the train station had been from Ivan and he had extended to Regulus provisional acceptance into the BSS.

Needless to say, the last Black heir had been speechless and had enthusiastically accepted. Natasha had extended her congratulations and the two of them had decided to walk back in silence.

Petunia had decided to go home without hearing the news as she hadn't been feeling well lately. Extreme nausea, headaches, sleep loss among other things were just a few of the symptoms she had been experiencing.

She was complaining and had had a doctor's appointment to go to just after dropping the kids off at the train station.

Natasha had her own personal reasons for speculating on what was wrong with Petunia but she wasn't going to say anything to Regulus lest he lose his mind before she find out if she was right.

Training for Regulus started at seven the following morning but Natasha knew he was too buzzed to sleep for the next few hours.

"What house do you think they got into?" she asked absently to take his mind off of his new job.

"Slytherin," he said definitively. "I need to collect on a bet with Siri once we get the call from the kids tonight. He was sure Harry and Dudley would be Gryffindor and Hermione would be a Ravenclaw. I think it's a little hard for him to accept that his godson and nephew are the epitome of Slytherins. What house do you think they got into?"

"It didn't really matter to me either way," Natasha explained. "I want her in the house where she will do the best and if that's Slytherin, than she will be there."

On a more private note, Natasha had done some reading herself into the wizarding world of England and had been appalled with how terribly archaic it was. Along with arranged marriages, the wizards who were muggle born like Dudley weren't allowed to hold any type of power position in their government and with half bloods such as Harry it wasn't much better.

The thing Natasha wanted to see her daughter do while she was away at school was to shake things up. She wanted Hermione and her friends to give magical England a total overhaul and introduce them to the twentieth century where technology was rendering the old ways obsolete.

Enough with things like arranged marriages and no electricity and outdated books. It was time to usher in a new era of growth upon this outdated outmoded archaic place.

Finally they turned onto the street of Privet Drive and began to walk up toward their respective houses.

"Why don't you come in Tasha?" Regulus suggested as they reached the driveway of Number 4. "I don't know how Petunia's going to handle this but it might help if you were able to explain some things to her."

Natasha nodded. She didn't have to get back to Washington until the following day and she kind of wanted to see Petunia and hear from Hermione before she left.

Regulus stuck his key in the lock and turned it and the two adults stepped inside before he shut it behind him and turned around. "Petunia? Are you home?"

"I'm in here," called a faint voice from the kitchen.

Regulus and Natasha exchanged glances and hurried in that direction.

Once they entered the kitchen, they found Petunia sitting down at the table. She looked pale and drawn and tired. But there was a weak smile on her face and sparkle in her eyes that made Natasha think that the negative symptoms were only superficial.

"Tuney?" Regulus asked going to her side. "Are you alright? What did the doctor say?"

Sensing a private conversation was about to happen, Natasha turned to leave when Petunia called out after her, asking her to stay.

"Reg, I've suspected it for about two weeks now but I didn't want to say anything until I was sure," Petunia explained when the red head had sat down again.

"Suspected what? What are you talking about?" Her husband asked.

Natasha eyed her friend for a long moment before she decided that she was right and Petunia did indeed have the good news that she had suspected.

Petunia looked at Regulus, her eyes sparkling. "I have the most wonderful news Reg, and today the doctor confirmed it. I'm pregnant."

Ω

Something Hermione instantly became aware of very early on was that Slytherin house was built on a variety of politics and one had to tread lightly in order to navigate them.

It was obvious that the seventh year students ruled the roost as they switched seats effortlessly around the table and laughed as if they were the kings and queens of England while looking down on the first year students who looked at them in fear and awe.

At least some of them did.

It took an effort not to laugh at the interconnected web of interpersonal relations that webbed everyone at this table together.

Hermione knew her Mum would say it was a cesspool of archaic principles that should be taken apart piece by piece before it could be ushered into the twentieth century but thankfully she wasn't an anarchist who would do such a thing.

In the meantime as she was observing all of these intergenerational politics, Hermione ate her meal and talked quietly with Draco, Harry and Dudley.

She was glad the four of them had managed to end up in the same house, a little disappointed that her other friends, Neville, Susan and Luna hadn't joined them, but all it meant was that she would have to work even harder in order to keep the seven of them friends and not torn apart by school politics.

She was just raising her glass of water to her lips when she heard Draco groan beside her quietly.

"What is it?" Dudley asked.

The blonde jerked his chin to another first year who was dark haired and had a face that could only be described as squished who had gotten to her feet with a mousy brown haired girl as well as another dark haired boy and the two of them were making their way down the table towards them. The girl's eyes were fixed on Harry.

Their little faces were mean, but it was the type of mean that was second hand, as if they were doing what they were told and didn't fully understand why it was that they needed to be mean.

Hermione knew immediately that they were in for some type of show.

"Who is that?" Dudley asked.

"Pansy Parkinson," Draco said sounding exasperated. "My father's always been good friends with her father. They were big supporters of the Dark Lord when he rose to power before I was born. Pansy's his only child and is spoiled rotten. She's also a blood supremacist….or at least one in training. All the children of the old families are for the most part."

_Fun, _Hermione thought.

"What are you doing over here Malfoy?" Parkinson demanded as she and her friends sat down across from the group of four. "I thought your father wanted you to make allies, what kind of connections are these? And if anything you're scraping the bottom of the barrel. How can you even breathe the air around a Mudblood?"

Dudley gritted his teeth and Harry clamped a hand down on his shoulder to keep him from getting up.

Parkinson said the words as if they were profane and Hermione smirked, absently twirling her dinner knife back and forth between her fingers like she had seen her mother do when she was thinking about something.

Parkinson turned to the dark haired boy and smiled cruelly. "I didn't think I'd ever see the famous Harry Potter in Slytherin. Your parents must be rolling over in their graves. I certainly hope you know what you're getting into here. Slytherin House is only for the cunning and ambitious, something that I hear your father wasn't at all."

Harry took a casual bite of his food and Hermione's smirk widened.

"Tell me," he said. "If Slytherin House is for the cunning and ambitious than why are you here showing off? Certainly doesn't seem cunning in any sense of the word."

Draco's grim look melted slightly and Dudley coughed to hide his laugh.

Parkinson's look turned stony. "Look here Potter. I was willing to give you the benefit of the doubt, but now I can see that you're just some jumped up half-blood who doesn't know how to respect his betters. I'm going to give you a piece of advice. You and your Mudblood friends better learn where your place is quick. Or this is going to be a miserable seven years for you."

Draco bristled, but the sound of soft laughter stopped all conversation among the seven people and everyone else at the table who had been listening in.

Hermione was laughing.

"You certainly seem to put a lot of thought into what it is that constitutes cunning darling. But if that's what you think it is, than you are truly as dumb as you look."

Everyone near them at the table gasped and even the far end of the Slytherin table grew quiet.

Pansy went rigid and turned almost mechanically towards Hermione.

"And just…_who_…..are _you?"_ she asked in a manner that was supposed to come across as condescending, but really just sounded kind of pathetic coming out of an eleven year old's mouth.

Hermione raised an eyebrow at her but continued to twirl her knife between her fingers back and forth methodically.

"Oh that's right," Pansy said as if she were leading up to some big reveal. "Hermione Granger. Another mudblood friend of Potter's I suppose. Honestly I'm amazed that the sorting hat put disgraces like you in our noble house."

Hermione leaned forward on the table then, suddenly all business. "Listen here Parkinson. Do you know anything about all these muggles that you claim to think have dirty disgusting blood and are no better than animals?"

Pansy didn't answer.

"Then let me educate you. Firstly, you completely missed my name. Hermione _Romanov_ Granger. If you knew anything about wizarding culture outside of England than you would know that the name Romanov is the name given for the pureblood wizarding royalty of Russia. My mother is the last in that line."

Pansy opened her mouth but Hermione didn't let her finish. She clenched her fist shut in a trick her father had taught her and the brunette found herself moving her lips but no sound was coming out. She looked at her friends in a panic but they were just as clueless as she was.

"Relax," Hermione said easily. "It'll wear off in a second. I just don't want to hear your voice when I say what I have to say. Slurs like Mudblood aren't going to get you very far here. All it does is make you sound like a prejudiced ignorant who doesn't experience life outside of her own walls. Do us all a favor Parkinson, go read a book and educate yourself. Your threats are pathetic. It's clear you came over here to try and intimidate us and assert yourself as queen of the first year students. Well you thought wrong. Don't underestimate me. My mother's one of the most powerful people alive and she's taught me everything she knows. You're just a pampered princess who's used to people bowing and scraping to her. It won't work with me. Now why don't you go back over to your friends, sit down and leave the rest of us in peace?"

With that she unclenched her fist and Pansy began to sputter when she realized she could talk again.

"You…..you…." she blustered but didn't follow through on what she was going to say.

"Yes?" Hermione said drawing out the word for as long as possible so Pansy would know that she was serious.

When Pansy looked down the table and saw that she was getting no support from her followers, she huffed and shot to her feet but not before glaring at Hermione and pointing a finger at her.

"Watch your back Granger…..this isn't over."

With that she turned and stomped back over to her friends.

"How in Merlin's name did you do that?" Draco demanded when she had gone. "You just clenched your fist and stopped her from talking."

"Yes I'd like to know how you did that too," Harry said looking at her pointedly. "I've known you my entire life Mione and I've never seen you do something like that."

The strawberry blonde shrugged. "I've never needed to."

Thor had taught her that trick when she was nine. He called it aggressive negotiation that he had had to use sometimes when interrogating prisoners. Some of them wouldn't stop talking and he had had to forcibly shut them up to ask his questions.

It wasn't long after that that Professor Dumbledore waved his wand and the plates on the tables disappeared. He then gave them the closing announcements, one of which included avoiding the third floor corridor unless they wished to experience a most painful death which of course caused some of her friends to exchange curious looks and sent them off with the prefects to their respective dorms.

Hermione waved to Neville and Susan and Luna as they all went their separate ways down the corridors and up the moving stairs.

Tomorrow, their adventure was about to begin.

Ω

After hearing Petunia's news and the congratulations that followed, Natasha apparated back to Washington to await Hermione's floo call. She was glad that she had been placed in a room that ironically had a fireplace. It was an electric fire, but thankfully, she could influence it just the same.

Hermione had told her to wait for her call because she didn't know what dorm she would be in and it would just make things less complicated that way.

She had no sooner set her bag on the floor when all of a sudden, there was a flash of light behind her and she whirled around to find a familiar blonde standing there.

The red head smirked at the sight of him and he grinned back at her. He was dressed in his armor rather than the human clothes which meant he had been in the process of carrying out an assignment from his father.

"You seem to have developed a habit of showing up in the oddest places, you know that?" she quipped and his smirk widened.

"I could say the same things about you."

She smiled and walked forward to give him a hug. She really was glad to see him.

It had only been a month since the last time but since their relationship had progressed steadily in the past eight years, they might as well be married without the ring and it was a little difficult not seeing him once every day.

There were some things she would grudgingly admit about their relationship.

"I saw our daughter today," he said as he set her back down and they sat down on the edge of the bed to talk.

"Did you?" Natasha asked. "You didn't do something completely idiotic and show up at the school did you?"

His expression, a mixture of a sheepish smile and a smirk told her all that she needed to know.

"Good god," she muttered. "Have you ever once in your thousand years of life tried to be subtle?"

"I disguised myself from the rest of the children," he explained smirking at her. "I did notice however she had a great deal more friends than when she left this morning."

"Good," Natasha said. "She's gathering intel, making connections. She's doing exactly what I taught her to do. Was she surprised to see you?"

"I think so. I was glad to see she brought her birthday present with her."

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "I better not get a call from Hermione saying that she's been suspended because she was carrying a knife on her."

Thor gave her an incredulous look. "I am amazed that you think that little of me. I solemnly charged her to not carrying the blades around and hide them in the bottom of her trunk. They were only for necessary use."

"What on earth could she possibly need those for at school?!"

"This is not a public school Natasha! You never know what might happen!"

God, they even sounded married.

"I'm waiting on her call at the moment," Natasha said, deciding to put the incident out of her mind for the moment. "She was going to tell me what house she had gotten into."

She was also prolonging the inevitable as well.

Director Fury and she had had a tenuous working relationship over the past two years but Natasha had finally reached a place where she felt like she could trust him. Only a handful of people had ever managed to do that. Ivan was one of them along with Thor, Petunia, Regulus, Clint and her daughter.

But she had a feeling that he was about to send her on an assignment that she was going to loathe more than any other one she had been on.

Since the revelation that Tony Stark was the metal clad crusader known as Iron Man in her first year working as a SHIELD agent, Fury had been eyeing the man's considerable skills both as a weapons designer and as a hero. He had been working on this secret project for months and Natasha had a feeling that Stark was somehow a key to it.

But in order to do that, they would have to somehow gain his trust. Natasha knew for a fact that they wouldn't be able to send in a male agent to get that close to Stark. He was a bit of a womanizer and so the only person it seemed who would be able to stay around him and Pepper Potts, his CEO was…..a woman.

And Fury had been hinting that he had an assignment for her.

She'd tried not to think about it and just focus on getting Hermione off to school and getting Regulus ready for work at the BSS but now that both of those things had been accomplished, she was beginning to dread when she would get a message from the director asking her to come to his office.

But she was a professional, she would do what needed to be done.

Obviously it would take a bit of recon first before she would actually assume a cover and go under.

She sighed. Fury was a tough son of a bitch and when he got it in his head to get something done, there was no stopping him. Not even logic would.

Although she couldn't deny that if this is what SHIELD would choose to do, it was a pretty brilliant alternative.

With Stark tech, there would be a myriad of things that they would be able to do. All that was needed was to get Tony on board.

Which she was sure would prove to be the most difficult part yet.

"You seem distracted," the god observed. "Is everything alright?"

Natasha absently chewed on the edge of her lip for a moment before she decided to say what was on her mind.

"Fury's got something big planned. I don't know what it is but I have a feeling that he plans to implement it in the next few years or so. And I have a feeling that it includes me."

"I'm afraid you're going to need to explain that further."

"It all started when he went to see Stark a few months ago. He's discovered something. I don't know what it is but he's often told all the senior agents that history tells us one thing and legend another. Sometimes history and legend can converge."

"There is an underlying meaning to this," the god prompted. "Go on."

Natasha ran a hand through her hair. "I wasn't sent on this particular assignment, but a few weeks ago, Clint was sent away to a mission in the North Atlantic Sea. Something was discovered there that Fury's been keeping mum about. He's still there right now going through negotiations and he shouldn't be back for a while, but when he does…..let's just say that things are about to get real very quickly."

The god was quiet for a time. And then he said something completely off the cuff which surprised her.

"Do you believe that Director Fury believes in a world outside of his known universe and this is the reason he has been gathering….intel as you put it?"

Natasha blinked. "I'm not sure, but something's going on and Stark's just a part of a larger plan here. Something big is going to happen in the next few years….I can feel it."

All of a sudden, the lights in the room dimmed and brightened slightly and Thor cursed slightly under his breath. "I've overstayed my time."

_If I had a dime for every time you said that when you were here, I wouldn't need to work for a living, _Natasha thought absently to herself.

"Running more errands for the All Father?" she asked.

"More like an imaginative detour," he said vaguely and the both of them got to their feet.

Thor reached out and placed a gentle hand on the side of her face.

"Be safe," he said quietly.

Natasha smirked and allowed herself to lean into his touch for a few seconds. "Sometimes I think you worry more about me than you do Hermione."

He didn't return the gesture. "She's not putting her life on the line every single day."

Natasha sobered a bit then and nodded. His concern touched and her and reminded her why, despite the fact that it was difficult and complicated, she would choose this relationship over any other.

He leaned down slightly and kissed her softly on the forehead before turning away to teleport.

"By the way," he said before he disappeared in golden light. "If you do end up becoming connected to Stark, try not to rip any limbs off."

Natasha smirked at the spot long after he had vanished. He really did know her too well.

Ω

The Slytherin dorms were pretty sweet.

When a prefect led the group of first years down into the dungeon, they actually passed through a couple halls line with old cells which had apparently been around since the middle ages until they came to a stop outside of a large portrait where there was a bearded and bald man dressed all in emerald robes with a serpent curled around his arm and a staff in his other hand.

He looked a bit like the images Hermione had seen of Saruman from Lord of the Rings, of course without the hair.

_I bet Mum would have a few quips to say about this guy if she were here, _Hermione thought to herself.

_That reminds me, I need to get into a dorm soon and call her to let her know about the sorting. _

No doubt her dad would have gone to see her by now and the two had updated their events as of recently.

The prefect said the password and the portrait swung open to reveal a large common room with deep green plush carpets on the tiled floors and emerald colored sofas and chairs scattered throughout the room. There was a deep platinum colored fireplace already blazing directly across from the portrait hole and on the left side of the room were two separate hallways that led off in the direction of the boys and girls dorms.

It seemed to be a cozy place and Hermione knew instantly that she would have fun here.

"If all first year students could please gather by the fire place," one of the three seventh year prefects who had led them down here announced. "We'd like to give some start of term announcement before dismissing you for the night."

Hermione, Draco, Dudley and Harry line up at the back of the group while the three seventh years stood in front of the fire place. Once everyone was quiet, they began.

"Hello and welcome to your first year at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry," one of the male prefects said. Hermione remembered that he had said his name was Caspian Drake.

"We're hoping to have a great first year with the rest of you but before we can begin, there are a few house rules we need to go over," he continued.

"Firstly there will be no boys entering the girls dorms or girls entering the boys dorms," the female prefect," Selene Antony went on. "Girls dorms are in the right hallways, boys are on the left. There will be three people to a dorm and for the love of Merlin please try to get along with your dorm mates especially the boys. I can't tell you how many times Caspian and Edmund have had to break up fights in the boys dorms over some minor disagreement that could have been solved with a few words."

"Continuing with that theme of conflict resolution," Edmund Dante said. "We are a united house. If you have any kind of disagreement with any of your housemates, you are to settle it in the common room and nowhere else. The rest of the school does not need to see divisions in our number."

Hermione could definitely appreciate that. Her mom did conflict resolution for a living.

"There will always be one or two prefects in the common room in case you need help with your homework or have any questions at all about the house. Our head of House is Professor Severus Snape. He is a tough but fair mentor. Do not cross him though. He will be our professor for potions so I would suggest to each and every one of you to practice and read up in your potions textbooks before your first lesson with him on Friday. We're looking forward to a great seven years with you. Your name and the names of the people who will be sharing your dorm with you are on the doors down the respective hallways. Goodnight everyone."

"Merlin, I hope I'm not with that Parkinson girl," Hermione muttered rolling her eyes as she and Draco and Dudley and Harry congregated outside the dorm hallway. "If that's the case, it's going to end up with one of us dead. And you know its not going to be me."

Harry and Dudley chuckled.

"Tell Aunt Tasha we say hello Mione," Harry said. "We better get down to the dorms if we want to get a good one. You coming Draco?"

"Right," the blonde nodded at her. "Night Granger."

She nodded at him. "Night Malfoy."

Hermione ignored the grim looks that Parkinson and the rest of her goons were sending her from where they were by the common room fireplace and started down in the direction of the girls dorms.

She put up a good front of being solid but deep down inside, she was a little nervous about her dorm mates. She didn't really want to be on bad relations with anyone if it was possible and the idea of sharing a permanent space with Parkinson until she was seventeen was enough to make the strawberry blonde feel sick.

The hallway she was walking down was lined with dorm doors and at the end of it, she could see a large circular glass window that looked out into the underwater world of the Black Lake which took away her attention as she saw fish swimming by and even the shimmery tale of a mermaid in the distance.

It turned out her dorm was the last one on the left hand side behind a mahogany door. Hermione took a deep breath before looking at the three names that were in bronze plaques on the door.

_Hermione Romanov Granger_

_Daphne Greengrass_

_Tracey Davis_

No Parkinson…..that was good at least.

Hermione pushed the door open and was faced with one of the nicest rooms she had ever seen.

There were three large four poster beds with deep green bed spreads and draperies on the right side of the room placed against a large window that encompassed the whole right wall of the room that looked out into the Black Lake. There was a large fireplace that occupied the left side of the wall and was already blazing.

There were two girls in the room who were kneeling by the two beds closest to the door, rummaging in their trunks and talking quietly. One had long silky blonde hair that Hermione knew her Aunt Petunia would have killed for when she was younger and the other had shoulder length curly chocolate brown hair that bounced around her heart shaped face.

They both looked up at the door opening and gave her small smiles when they saw her.

"Hello," the blonde said getting to her feet. "I'm Daphne Greengrass and this is Tracey Davis. You must be Hermione."

"I am," the strawberry blonde said. "It's nice to meet the both of you."  
"Are you a Muggleborn Hermione?" Tracey asked. "Not that it matters, I'm just curious. Granger isn't typically a name associated with a pureblood."

"Actually no," Hermione said. "I am a pureblood although you're right it doesn't really matter. Granger is my official last name, but I and my mother go by the name of Romanov. It's a long story."

Daphne raised an eyebrow. "That was the name of the Russian Wizarding Royal family before the revolution in 1914. You and your mother must be the last of that line."

"We are," Hermione said. "It's nice to finally meet someone who knows their history at last."

"You mean Pansy?" Tracey rolling her eyes. "Don't mind her. Both Daph and I have been associated with her family since we were kids and she's always given me a hard time because I'm a half-blood."

"You're mother's the muggle?" Hermione asked curiously.

"She's a Muggleborn," Tracey corrected. "So she knows all about magic and is a very good witch, she just doesn't have the family history."

"I get that," Hermione said. "My mum's a pureblood but she's lived as a Muggle since she was a kid."

"Really?" Daphne said looking intrigued. "I'm assuming it's because the royalty was driven to extinction and she was adopted by a Muggle?"

"Something like that," Hermione said, keeping her origins vague. Granddad knew all about magic but he decided not to associate with that world not because he was afraid of it but because he didn't understand it.

"We already decided on beds," Tracey said looking around. "Do you mind taking the one on the far left side?"

"Not at all," Hermione said. "I didn't really have much of a preference. That's fine with me."

The rest of the evening was taken up with unpacking and general conversation as the three girls got to know each other.

Finally when the noise in both sides of the dorms began to die down and both Tracey and Daphne had gone to bed, Hermione quickly put up a silencing spell around her bed and dug her cellular device out of her bag.

Under normal circumstances she would have used the floo but she didn't want to run the risk that someone would wake up and see her.

She knew her mother would still be awake. Working with SHIELD wasn't exactly a nine to five gig and there were times when Natasha would work all night and then sleep during the day but because of her mother's advanced system, she was able to handle it better than if she had a normal body.

Hermione quickly punched in the buttons on the device for her mother's personal number. It rang for exactly ten seconds before the sound of someone on the other end picking up came in and Natasha's crisp voice could be heard.

"Hello?"

"Hi mum, it's me," Hermione said feeling relief. No matter where she was, or what she was doing or how old she got, whenever she heard her mother's voice, she would always feel safe.

"Mione! Oh good, I was wondering when I was going to hear from you. Have you and Harry and Dudley all settled in?"

"Yes, I'm in my dorm right now. We made quite a few new friends on the train and have spent the last few hours getting to know them. Both my dorm mates are asleep right now so I figured I'd better call you to give you a heads up about what happened. All three of us ended up in Slytherin, so you can tell Uncle Reg that he won his bet with Uncle Siri."

Natasha laughed. "I had a feeling Reg would be the winner of that wager. That's why I didn't bet, I already knew you would be with the snakes."

"You know you can always bet on me mum," Hermione said with a soft smile. "You would usually be right."

"That I am little girl. Your father came to see me today."

Hermione's grin widened. "Did he?"

"He did. He was running an errand for your grandfather and he wanted to see you off to school and then he came to see me."

Hermione knew she had the oddest family in the universe because the three of them shouldn't work and they did perfectly. Her father who was a god wasn't around all the time and her mother was off fighting criminals around the world and she was in Scotland at a boarding school learning how to do magic and yet they gelled so well.

"Oh, and that reminds me, there's something I need to tell you before I forget," Natasha said and instantly Hermione was intrigued.

"What is it?"

"After your father left I got a call from your uncle Regulus. First things first, he got the job at the BSS."

"Alright!" Hermione cheered and then lowered her voice sheepishly even though she had put up a silencing spell. One of her and Harry and Dudley's favorite stories of all time were when her mum and Uncle Reg had broken Uncle Siri out of prison when they were four and they never got tired of hearing it.

Now hearing that her uncle would go on to be an even bigger badass like her mother was gave Hermione an irrational sense of pride.

"It's very exciting," Natasha agreed. "But that's not all. When we got home from headquarters, your Aunt Petunia had some news for us too."

"What was it?" Hermione demanded feeling a little excited.

"It's a good thing your uncle got the job when he did because there's going to be another mouth to feed. Your aunt's pregnant."

"Are you serious?" Hermione whispered in shock. "Do they know the sex of the baby yet?"

"Not yet, she's only six weeks along, but I think she's secretly hoping for a girl because she has Harry and Dudley already."

"That would be nice," Hermione agreed. "Merlin, they're going to be so excited! When is she planning on telling them?"

"Sometime this week," Natasha said. "But you cannot say a word to them alright?"

"Alright."

"Good. Now the final thing I wanted to tell you is about your uncle Siri."

"What about him?" Hermione asked frowning.

Uncle Siri called through the floo and talked to them every week. He was doing well at his school in Central America and Hermione got the distinct impression that he was really enjoying it.

"He's being transferred back to Europe and your uncle found out that he's been hired at the Beauxbatons Academy of Sorcery in France. So we're going to be seeing a lot more of him now that he's closer."

"That's great!" Hermione exclaimed. "Harry and Dudley will be thrilled! And about the baby, I kind of hope it's a girl. But no matter what the sex of the baby is, they'll most definitely have magic."  
"Well that's what your aunt said and I had a feeling she's a little worried about it too."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

There was a long pause on Natasha's end. "I think she's afraid because she's surrounded by magical beings now. She's the only muggle in this surrogate family and I think that's giving her bad memories of events that happened when she was younger. Don't misunderstand me little girl, she loves every single one of us, but I think she's feeling a little vulnerable right now."

"Maybe I should write her a letter," Hermione said thoughtfully. "Let her know that we're all thinking about her."

"That sounds like a good idea," Natasha agreed. "I better sign off for the night little girl. I got a six o'clock call tomorrow morning. I'm meeting Clint in the North Atlantic."

"Really?" Hermione asked. "That sounds exciting what's going on up there?"

"You know I can't – "

"Yeah I know….classified information blah blah blah. Can you at least tell me when I see you again?"

"I'll make you a deal little girl. You make straight A's at school this year and I will tell you about every single assignment that I will have from here on out."

"Deal."

"Good," Natasha said. "Now I better get going. Whether or not I'm on the tarmac tomorrow, the plane is leaving without me. I'll see you soon."

"I miss you," Hermione said quietly. The bittersweet feeling only came when the conversations with her mother were about to end. She didn't let it on because she saw her mother every week, but she really did miss her when she was away in Washington.

"I miss you too little girl," Natasha said softly. "I wish you were here with me. But I think we're both where we need to be right now."

Natasha had had a few concerns about sending Hermione to Hogwarts but in a way she was glad her daughter was there as well because it meant that she was out of harm's way if someone like Stalin tried to come after them again. It was why she had trained Hermione within an inch of her life because she wanted her to be able to handle being her daughter. Natasha had a past and after the incident when she was four with Stalin and the Weavers, Natasha knew that she needed to prepare Hermione because her past might come after her again.

"I know," Hermione said. "I just miss seeing you almost every day that's all. Even when you were in Washington for the past two years, I still saw you at least three or four times a week. I guess I'm going to have to get used to talking to you like this until Christmas."

"You know this is the best way to reach me if you ever need me," Natasha said. "Your uncle taught me that silencing charm so no one else can hear what I'm saying so we don't have to worry about anyone listening in."

Hermione chuckled at the quip. "I'll remember that."

"I love you little girl," Natasha said quietly.

"I love you too Mum," Hermione whispered.

She listened to the dial tone for a few seconds after the line cut off and then sighed and shut the device before getting ready for bed.

She had a big day tomorrow.

Ω

The first week of school at Hogwarts went by surprisingly well.

Hermione and her friends got to classes on time, they hung out with their other friends from different houses and they explored the grounds.

Hermione learned that Luna, the little blonde in Ravenclaw had skipped a year because of her magical prowess which quite impressed the strawberry blonde. She also learned that Susan's aunt was head of the DMLE and an integral part of the reason that Uncle Siri had been released from prison.

There was a lot more to Susan than met the eye. She had started learning magic from her aunt when she was six and was well on her way to learning to become an Animagus, a very impressive feat.

Along with that there was Neville who Hermione sensed there was a lion inside of roaring to get out and he just needed the opportunity to do it. He was also very good at herbology and plants and when he was in a greenhouse it was then that he was the happiest.

Draco she was still trying to figure out. There were times when it seemed like he enjoyed hanging around them, and then times when he seemed conflicted, as if he shouldn't be doing what he was doing.

She didn't know him well enough to call him out on it but she resolved to watch him for the time being to see if she could find out what was going on.

Harry had been studying up on potions for the entire week so that he wouldn't be called out by professor Snape. He knew a bit of the story of what had happened between Lily and James and Professor Snape from Regulus. And though he acknowledged the sacrifices that Lily and James had made for him, he fully accepted Petunia and Regulus as his parents by calling them mum and dad because they had been the ones to raise him.

Professor Snape was a hard man who spit out questions rapid fire as if they were bullets being shot from a gun and Hermione respected a man who was hard on his students. Harry calmly answered each of the questions that the dark haired man fired at him and didn't seem to be cowed by the sneers and theatrical persona.

At the end of the day, the professor seemed a little shocked that Harry was cool and level headed when answering him and had an answer for every question. At the end of the lesson, they left the bat of the dungeon with a contemplative expression on his face.

Dudley and Neville and Luna also seemed to have made a good friend on the grounds by the name of Rubeus Hagrid, a half giant with a fondness for strange magical creatures which endeared him to the small blonde right away.

All in all, Hermione was having a great time at school. She was learning new things and being challenged by her teachers and making new acquaintances and above all else, she was gaining perspective about the world.

Something that her mother taught her was that perspective was key for understanding people and in negotiations as well. It defined one's view of the world and was necessary for understanding all arguments.

Hermione truly began to appreciate the value of perspective however when she stumbled upon someone in the library that she didn't expect to talk to.

She was looking for a book in the library one afternoon about three weeks into the start of school when she went down an aisle and saw a red headed boy hunched over a large textbook chewing on the end of his quill with vigor.

She glanced over the books and papers and saw that he was working on a potions assignment.

Professor Snape was a killer on Gryffindor students and so feeling a tiny bit sorry for him, she decided to speak up.

"You look like you might need some help."

The boy glanced up in surprise as if he hadn't even noticed her and then upon seeing her green and silver tie eyed her warily. "Maybe."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Come come now, I don't bite. This Gryffindor Slytherin feud is getting a little ridiculous. We both go to the same school don't we?"

The boy nodded.

"So that means we share a common ground as Hogwarts students. Now from one Hogwarts student to another, do you or do you not need some help?"

The boy eyed her carefully for another long moment before a tiny smile came over his face. "I guess I do. I'm Ron by the way. Ron Weasley."

Hermione grinned and stuck out her hand. "It's nice to meet you Ron. I'm Hermione Granger."

She sat down and could soon see that potions wasn't Ron's best subject but that was due in part to the teacher they had who was predisposed towards hating Gryffindors. That wasn't Ron's fault and it in fact sucked away his motivation to try.

He told her that he was the youngest of six brothers and had only one sister and that two of his siblings had already graduated.

"Bill was Head Boy and Charlie was Quidditch Captain, now my third oldest brother Percy is a prefect. The twins Fred and George mess around a lot but they still get really good grades and everyone thinks they're really funny. Now I'm expected to live up to them, but if I do, it's not a big deal because they did it first."

He sounded a little discouraged and Hermione felt a little sorry for him. She was an only child and Ron had a lot of siblings to live up to.

"Maybe instead of pressuring yourself to be like them, you should look for unique things to do. You're your own person Ron and no one else will be able to do things like you can. Strive to be the best at that."

The red head gave her a small smile. "Thanks Hermione, I'll think about it. You're pretty cool for a Slytherin."

Hermione rolled her eyes and smirked. "We're not all bad. By the way, do you know Neville Longbottom?"

Ron thought for a moment. "Yeah I remember his sorting. Decent bloke. What about him?"

"You should talk to him," Hermione suggested. "I think you two would get along really well."

"I'll do that."

Hermione looked at her watch and muttered a curse under her breath. "I need to get to class. It was nice talking to you Ron. Hopefully I'll see you at the Gryffindor table next time I sit there with Neville."

The red head nodded. "That'd be nice. I'll see you then."

Hermione hurried from the library smiling quietly to herself. If she could show one Gryffindor that Slytherins weren't all bad than perhaps it could go other way around too. Ron seemed like a decent and loyal bloke and she looked forward to talking to him again.

Ω

September raced by and Hermione was delighted to see all of her friends gelling quite nicely. While Draco was still an awkward arrogant idiot at times, he was at least tolerable now to the rest of the group. Susan was an integral part of making things work because she was just so unbiased. She was loyal toward every single one of her friends and valued perspective in a way that Hermione hadn't seen since her mother.

More than once over the next six weeks since school began did Hermione think, _Merlin there's a lot I could learn from her._

Because her entire group of friends came from different backgrounds and different ideologies, there could be some tension when those aspects clashed and Luna was helpful in defusing a lot of that. She brought a whimsical air to the seven of them and was so light hearted that it was difficult to maintain frustration with anyone when she was around.

Neville was someone who was surprising Hermione. He had a genuinely good heart and was a gentle soul. He and Draco sometimes butted heads, but everyone could see that within a few years after they'd ironed out all the kinks in their relationship, they were going to be really good friends.

Harry and Dudley had branched out from more than just the Slytherin table and were doing their own networking as well. Dudley had bonded with a Hufflepuff boy named Ernie Macmillian and Harry had befriended a shy quiet girl from Ravenclaw named Padma Patil.

Hermione herself rather liked that they didn't seem to have one fixed set of friends but rather talked to everyone.

She and Susan were walking by the lake one day about two weeks before Halloween after classes. They were on their way to see Hagrid when Susan spoke up with something surprising.

"My auntie told me that the International Confederation of Wizards will be held in England this year," she said.

Hermione looked at her in surprise. In the amount of time she had spent in the library, she had read up on such a confederation. It was when all the wizards in their respective levels of government in countries around the world met to discuss the future of magic, magical crime levels and other things that would affect them in general.

It was a very A list crowd and usually only the best of the best were invited to attend.

"I take it your aunt's going," Hermione said and Susan nodded eagerly.

"As Head of the DMLE she's kind of required to. They also talk about threats in the Muggle world affecting them and my auntie has even been to a muggle governmental organization in Washington called SHIELD –"

Hermione stumbled and nearly fell. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"

Susan frowned at her but continued. "There are several people high up in the Muggle government that auntie knows and in order to keep relations between magical and muggles cooperative, she'll sometimes have to go to the world's largest organized crime defense in Washington, otherwise known as SHIELD. Why?"

"No reason," Hermione said adopting an expressionless mask. "I just thought I'd heard the name before."

Inside her mind was racing. Was it possible that Amelia Bones had known about her mother this whole time? But then why didn't she say anything?

"I didn't know Muggle and Wizarding relations were that….extensive," she managed and Susan grinned.

"Oh my auntie's at the front of the cooperation initiative. She's always told me that after the last war we needed to reach out more to our Muggle counterparts because there might have been ways they could have helped us."

Hermione was pleasantly surprised to hear that. "Well why didn't they?"

Susan got a sour look on her face. "She wanted to and so did other wizarding families but purebloods like the Malfoys and the Parkinsons and the Nott's called it a travesty having to rely on Muggles for anything and because Auntie was in the minority, she got shouted down."

"That's a ruddy shame," Hermione muttered to herself. Her mother would be pleased to know that there were some citizens in the wizarding world that wanted to reach out to their Muggle counterparts.

"It is," Susan said.

They went on their trip to see Hagrid where they met Luna and had an enjoyable afternoon of stories and rock cakes, but it was always in the back of Hermione's mind that a connection like that should be explored further.

She should talk to her mother about it.

Ω

Of course, Harry and Dudley were thrilled at the prospect of having a new little brother or sister and were hard pressed to shut up about it.

One evening when Hermione, Draco, Dudley and Harry were sitting by the fire in the Slytherin common room going over the homework that was due the next day, Draco leaned over to Hermione and whispered: "You think they would notice if left right now?"

Hermione smirked at the blonde. "I doubt it."

He jerked his head toward the door and she followed suit.

While Harry and Dudley were discussing names for their new little brother or sister, the two other Slytherins slipped out the portrait hole and dashed down the hall chuckling behind their hands.

"I swear I know those two are related, but they get lost in their own world sometimes," Hermione chuckled to herself.

"With Potter and Dursley, it's like they share the same brain," Draco said a bit pompously. "Merlin, it's hard to get a word in edgewise with them."

It was nearing curfew so they decided not to go too far but somehow ended up near the third floor corridor for some reason.

It was to Hermione's surprise that they found sitting in the third floor corridor window well, a small blonde and a brown haired boy discussing the various magical creatures they had seen at Hagrid's that day.

"Hello Hermione, hello Draco," Luna said dreamily when she saw them. Neville turned around and waved as well.

"What are you two doing out at this time?" Neville asked. "It's getting late. Curfew is soon."

"Potter and Dursley haven't stopped going on about the new sibling their going to be having," Draco asked rolling his eyes. "Merlin I don't even want to know what happens after it's born."

Neville laughed shyly. "Sometimes I think its better being an only child."

"Something Hermione had discovered about most of her friends since she had met them was that they were only children, she, Draco, Neville, and Luna didn't have any siblings. Susan had an older brother but he was working for the Ministry of Magic in Russia. They all understood each other better in a way because of that.

"I was going to go to bed soon, but there were too many Nargles in my common room," Luna explained dreamily. "So I came out here and Neville has been keeping me company."

Hermione and the Longbottom scion exchanged looks. Everyone in the group knew that there were some students in Ravenclaw who had been giving Luna a hard time because she was….well a little different.

Hermione for her part thought Luna was brilliant and it annoyed her that many others didn't see just how smart her friend was.

It annoyed Dudley even more because and this was just Hermione's own personal thoughts, he seemed a little enamored with the whimsical blonde. Luna just danced through school with her own personal effervescence and something like that was going to become even more captivating when they got older.

Hermione glanced out the window at the moon and noted that it was almost ten o'clock and time for curfew.

"As much as I hate to admit it, we probably should be getting back," Hermione said nodding at the light outside and Neville nodded.

Draco rolled his eyes. "Relax Granger, live a little. Haven't you ever wanted to see what the castle is like after dark?"

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Sure I have, but unless you know of some way we can do it and not get caught than I don't see how we can."

Here's where Draco got a sly look on his face and he opened his mouth to reply when all of a sudden the ghostly laughter of Peeves the Poltergeist floated up the hallway behind them.

"Damn!" Neville muttered under his breath. Out of all of them, he hated Peeves the most. The ghost took advantage of his shy nature and the fact that he didn't retaliate to try and humiliate and harm Neville at every turn.

Luna jumped to her feet and looked down at the third floor corridor. "If he sees us, he will alert the professors."

"Gran's going to kill me if she finds out I got a detention in the first month of school," Neville said in a panic.  
"Well then what are we waiting for?" Draco asked and leading the four of them, he dashed into the third floor hallway.

Hermione hesitated a brief second before hurrying after him, Luna behind her. Neville swallowed hard and followed. At the moment, he wasn't sure which was worse, facing the teachers and getting detention or seeing whatever horrors were in the third floor corridor.

Peeves cackling laughter sealed the deal for him because he followed his three other friends into the corridor as fast as he could.

There only seemed to be one door in the hallway and Draco went straight for it. He yanked the handle, but it rattled and didn't open.

"It's locked!" He cursed.

"Weren't you paying attention in Charms?" Hermione demanded. She waved her wand at the key hold. _"Alohomora!" _

There was a soft click and all four first years bundled inside and shut the door behind them just as the sound of the poltergeist came down the hallway.

"Are their ickle firsties out of bed?" he laughed. "Come out come out where ever you are! Peeves loves to play hide and seek!"

They waited until he had passed by the door before they all sagged with relief.

"That was close!" Neville breathed.

All of a sudden….there was a noise behind them.

That was when Hermione became aware of an odd smell. She tensed, senses on high alert and turned around slowly.

There, towering behind them was the most enormous monster that Hermione had ever seen in her entire life. It was a dog, but black as midnight and at least ten feet tall with razor sharp fangs and claws. If that wasn't enough, it had three heads and all six of its eyes were fixed on them.

At this point any eleven year old would be terrified, but as they stood there and faced down this monster, Hermione became aware of an odd whispering in her head. She didn't know if anyone else could hear it, but it was deep and whispery and seemed incredibly ancient.

She glanced around her but besides the four of them and the dog, no one else was in the room.

It was then that she glanced downward and her eyes became fixed upon the beast's paws, or rather the thing that was under its paws.

It was standing upon a large trap door with an old metal ring that one could use to pull open and slid down into a compartment underneath.

In the few seconds that she looked at it, Hermione became intrinsically aware that the whispering was coming from beneath that trap door. It was almost as if all sound faded away until there was only the whispering and an odd ringing in her ears as if someone had struck a gong near her head.

Something….or someone was hiding down there.

Hermione felt a cold shiver creep up her spine. She didn't understand the words the voice was saying….but they were whispery and ancient and seemed as old as time itself.

It almost seemed to be an invitation, and the dialect seemed incredibly similar to the language of Asgard that her father spoke. She knew a few words, but nothing major and the rolling of the words coming from this voice was similar to the linguistic tones of Asgard.

Could someone from Asgard be hiding beneath the floorboards?

She knew that was ridiculous but hearing the similar language was the only thing that made sense and the strawberry blonde knew it was a voice that she wouldn't be able to get out of her head.

In the meantime, she was becoming increasingly aware of the whimpers of her scared friends and the fact that Neville kept tugging on her arm.

Draco cursed under his breath, his face even paler in the moonlight from the window.

Neville swallowed hard and said something that sounded like a prayer and Luna said that she had had a feeling that there would be too many Nargles in here.

Finally the dog let out a thundering growl and it seemed to shake the panicked motionlessness from the four first years.

"Run!" Neville shouted.

They lunged for the door and Hermione could feel the hot breath of the monster on their heels as it closed in on them.

Draco barely succeeded in yanking the door open and the four of them fell out and he slammed it closed, nearly catching the monster's nose in the process as it had started to follow them out.

As they leaned against the wall or bent over panting, Neville managed to get out between gasps: "What….the bloody hell…..was that?"

"A Cerberus," Luna said cheerfully and they all turned to her in disbelief. "It was an ancient creature that guarded the gates of the underworld."

"Then what the bloody hell is one doing in a school?" Draco demanded.

"You didn't see what it was standing on?" Hermione said finally have regained her breath.

"I'm sorry Granger, I was too busy trying to get air back into my lungs to admire the décor!"

Hermione rolled her eyes. "It was standing on a trap door. I think it was guarding something."

Neville and Draco looked at her in disbelief.

"How were you looking at that?" Neville demanded. "I was too busy wondering whether or not to scream or pass out or both!"

"The voice was coming from the trap door," Luna said dreamily. "I heard it and so did Hermione. That's why she wasn't screaming, she was listening."

They all turned to her flabbergasted, Hermione especially.

"You heard a voice too?" she asked.

"What do you mean too?" Draco demanded. "I didn't hear any voice."

"It was old," Luna went on, her blue eyes never leaving Hermione's aqua marine ones. "It didn't come from this earth did it?"

"How do you know that?" Hermione whispered.

"You could tell by its voice," the blonde said thoughtfully. "It was speaking a language not of earth."

It was in that moment, Hermione made a mental note to never underestimate Luna again.

Neville opened his mouth to say something when all of a sudden, the cackling laughter of Peeves returning stopped them.

The two boys exchanged glances.

"I'll get Luna back to Ravenclaw Tower," Neville volunteered. "You guys better get back to the dungeon."

"Right," Draco said. "Come on Granger."

Hermione followed him though her body was on auto pilot.

What had Luna meant saying the voice was not of this earth? How could see possibly know that? And why were she and Luna the only ones who could hear the voice while Draco and Neville couldn't?

She and the Malfoy scion narrowly missed the prefect roaming the halls and practically fell into the Slytherin common room.

Harry and Dudley who were playing a game of exploding snap by the fireplace jumped up when they saw them.

"Where the bloody hell were you?" Dudley demanded. "Curfew was twenty minutes ago!"

"We went for a walk, saw Longbottom and Lovegood, you know the usual," Draco said as nonchalantly as possible.

"I need to get to bed," Hermione said distractedly. "I'll see you guys in the morning."

She hurried off to the girls dorm, Dudley and Harry still questioning Draco as they headed back to their shared dorm.

She needed to think…..and talk to Luna privately when it became possible.

Something was going on here, and it was obvious that when the headmaster said to stay out of the corridor, he was hiding something potentially dangerous.

What was it?

And more importantly…..what was going on here?

Ω

Albus Dumbledore walked the hallways silently that night. He had just returned from the room in which the he had hidden the package.

It had gone back and forth between himself and Nicholas Flamel for the past few years but he couldn't risk anyone finding out about it and no one would think to look for it in a school.

Most of Flamel's family believed the Philosopher's Stone was something that Nicholas himself had created. But in reality, it was a far older entity that had been discovered when they were young men and had been guarded fiercely between the two of them ever since.

As young men, the two of them had gone on an expedition to the north of Russia to study some of the different magical creatures there. They had discovered the opal looking stone deep in a forest in the roots of an enormous tree that they had never seen before.

It was entirely white and had white leaves and the stone itself seemed to be fueling the life of the tree.

Upon studying it, they had learned that the tree and consequently the stone as well though no one knew about it had stood for thousands of years.

The locals had a legend about it even, that generations before a meteor had fallen from the heavens and struck the earth with such a force that nothing grow around the site for fifty years.

Nothing that was except for a white sprout that grew into an enormous tree. It didn't seem to need the rain or the sun to grow and had been a mystery as long as there was people there to theorize about it.

Upon discovering the stone in its roots, the two young wizards had taken the stone back to England and analyzed for years before they were to deduce a few things.

Because it had caused the tree to grow for thousands of years they learned that it was able to make the one who consumed its energy immortal. This realization caused both Dumbledore and Flamel to think that the stone was not of this earth and was from a place far more ancient than anyone would have thought.

There were many speculations and stories among the wizarding world as to where magic came from but the most popular one was that magic hadn't come from a place on earth at all and rather from somewhere beyond the stars. It came from a land of gods and titans who had explored the galaxies before finding earth and giving magic to the few primitive humans on it.

Where they had gone after no one knew, but the stone was far more powerful than anything humans had been able to create and Dumbledore knew he couldn't afford to let anyone get his hands on it.

No one would think to look for it in a school however which was why he had hidden it here.

He wouldn't be able to see that within a few short months, the school would be invaded by someone far worse seeking the stone and he would be faced with the reality that there were forces beyond this world far more powerful than he could understand.

Something evil was coming.

And he wouldn't be able to stop it.

Ω

**Okay, so I've decided to change things up a little. Both the events of Hogwarts and the Avengers are going to happen at a similar time, so that means longer chapters, more action and a hell of a lot of fun. I just realized doing the Hogwarts story and then the Avengers was going to take a ridiculously long time and its more fun for me this way. So this is how the timelines is going to unfold.**

**Hogwarts Year 1/Iron Man 2 (which we all know Natasha plays a unique role in)**

**Hogwarts Year 2/ Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger (I got big plans for second year ;) )**

**Hogwarts Year 3/ Avengers ( wait until you see what I have planned for those two events, holy smokes! I can't wait!)**

**Hogwarts Year 4/ The Winter Soldier (espionage will come into play at its finest)**

**Hogwarts Year 5/ Age of Ultron (in case you haven't guessed it already, Hermione will be taking place in the Avenger battles, despite the protests of her parents)**

**Hogwarts Year 6/ Civil War/ Dr. Strange (big emotional stuff will be coming here)**

**Hogwarts Year 7/ Black Panther/ Ragnarok **

**Finally after the battle of Hogwarts, there will be Infinity War (And this will be the big finale of the story. After Infinity war, Child of Lightning will be concluding because while I'd love to carry on this story forever, all good things must come to an end.)**

**Finally, I want to use this as a template for events going forward. I got a really annoying review from someone claiming a ruined the story for them because of a dialogue that they perceived to be Weasley bashing. Let me make something very clear, I am not a fan of Weasley bashing in any sense of the word, it is a boring and over used trope that really has no basis in good storytelling. I'm not fond of Ron, but I won't bash him either in my stories. I happen to really like Ginny and she'll play a role in this story too. As you can see, I've had Luna skip a year because she's going to be a good friend to Hermione. But this person assumed a great deal many things. Again, I don't like reviews that only complain because it benefits no one. If you don't like the way I write a story, go write one yourself the way you want it. People are so entitled these days. I happen to like this story a lot, I know you guys do to. So if you have any questions about it, please do not hesitate to PM me and ask it. Thank you.**

**Oh and one more thing, at some point I'm going to stop referring to Thor and Natasha as each other's significant other and just start calling them husband and wife because that's essentially what they are. I mentioned in this chapter that Thor hasn't even been tempted to look at another woman since he met Natasha and she's not the type to date casually, so this relationship for the both of them coupled with the fact that they have a kid together is pretty serious. I've always thought that these two, since their my favorite Avengers would make the most insanely badass couple ever and again I like romance as long as its done right which is what I'm trying to do.**

** As always, enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review! **


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25

As one might imagine, Hermione had a very difficult time sleeping that night. She tossed and turned and generally lay awake in the dark contemplating what was beneath the floorboards in that locked room in the third floor corridor, why on earth there would be a Cerberus guarding it and why there had been a voice coming out of it that only she and Luna could hear.

It had been deep and whispery and ancient and menacing and she got chills up and down her spine just thinking about it.

Absently Hermione wondered as she rolled over for the fiftieth time that night if her father might know something about the voice she had heard.

It was obvious that the headmaster was hiding something and Hermione had a feeling that it was potentially dangerous and sinister.

But the one thing it had managed to do was cite her curiosity about what he was hiding and she knew it wasn't going to let her go until she found out what it was.

Finally at about six thirty, Hermione decided she wouldn't be getting anymore sleep and got up quietly so as not to wake Tracey and Daphne.

After dressing in her robes, she slipped quietly out of the room and headed down to the common room where she was surprised to see Malfoy already dressed and sitting down in one sofas in front of the fire reading a book.

As she walked closer, she could see that it was their defense against the dark arts textbook and grimaced. Everyone she knew hated that class. Professor Quirrel was stumbling stuttering mess of a man who seemed afraid of his own shadow. Hermione had no doubt that the man didn't kill any zombies or werewolves or monsters of any kind.

He stunk of garlic, which he claimed was to ward off vampires but there weren't any vampire colonies for miles around so why on earth did he have it? And what the hell was with the purple turban that he always wore on his head? He claimed it had been a gift, but the whole situation smelled off to Hermione, literally and metaphorically.

"You couldn't sleep either?" she asked plopping down on the couch next to the blonde.

After a minute, he shut the book with a snap, sighed and turned to her. "Granger what the hell was going on last night?"

She frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"You know what I'm talking about. Three headed monster aside for a minute, I had a second when we were standing with our backs to the door facing down that animal and you had the scariest look on your face."

Hermione's frown deepened but for once she didn't know what to say and the blonde took it as a cue to continue.

"You looked as if you had gone into a trance," he said and his tone dropped to a whisper. "Your eyes went to an almost crystal blue shade where they looked almost white and your eyes closed as if you were half asleep. You looked as if you're being hypnotized. And then I find out from Lovegood that the two of you had heard some kind of voice coming beneath the floorboards that looked like it scared the living hell out of you. You know something, what is it?"

Hermione had to give Draco credit, he was very astute in the fact that while anyone else would have been screaming bloody murder as they faced down a monster, he had been looking at her facial expressions because they had been the most glaring thing. He obviously knew her well enough in the past six weeks to know her mannerisms and last night, she had portrayed that something was very, _very _wrong.

"I don't know anything," she said calmly. "All I can feel here," and this time she pointed at her gut. "Is that something is very wrong with what happened last night. There is a monster in our school guarding something or someone potentially dangerous and sinister and that only a few people can hear it. I don't know if the headmaster is behind this, but I do know that he put this thing here. The rest well…..that's up for grabs."

Draco was quiet for a long minute. "Do we tell people about it?"

Hermione chewed thoughtfully on the edge of her lip. "I want to do some research first. I'm not sure this is any of my business, but if there's something dangerous in this school threatening us, we have a duty to root it out and see that that things are taken care of. It's our school too. Why should we feel threatened?"

Draco took a deep breath and nodded. "Alright, but if you see an enormous three headed dog running rampant in the halls, consider it our business."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Our?"

"Maybe it's time I considered another perspective."

Ω

Hermione kept her eye on Luna for the rest of the day, but the Slytherins only had the Ravenclaws in charms and from what she could see, the small blonde seemed no less affected than if nothing had happened the night before.

_I need to talk to her, _Hermione thought as she followed her friends out of charms.

She hadn't realized she had stopped in the hallway until Dudley turned around and called out: "Are you coming Mione?"

The strawberry blonde blinked. "Yeah, I'll be down to dinner in a second. I just want to talk to Luna."

The three of them shrugged, though Draco gave her a severe look before they turned a corner and disappeared.

Luna, sensing that Hermione wanted to talk to her, eased off from the rest of her classmates and stood waiting by the door of the Charms room. Hermione waited until there was a good distance between herself and Luna and the rest of the students before she turned back around.

"You look troubled Hermione," the small blonde said. "Have the Nargles been at you all day?"

The strawberry blonde chuckled. "No, not the Nargles Luna, something bigger. Can we go for a walk?"

The two of them walked slowly down the moving staircases and were about to head out the doors when they were stopped by a voice.

"There you are," Susan called out from the doors of the Great Hall. "I've been looking for you two all day."

"Hermione's suffering from a case of the Nargles," Luna explained cheerily. "We were going to go for a walk and talk about it. Do you want to come Susan?"

The red head blinked but recovered pretty quickly. "Alright let's go."

The three girls slowly walked out of the castle. Hermione had been thinking all day and as a result hadn't eaten much. She could hear her aunt Petunia getting on her case about eating a healthy diet but at the moment, there were some things that were more important than food.

Once they were down by the Black Lake and settled comfortably on the shore, Hermione took a deep breath and told Susan what had happened the night before.

When she had finished, she looked up from the grass she was tearing up with her fingers to meet the red head's incredulous expression.

"That's insane," Susan whispered. "I thought Professor Dumbledore was just keeping something in that corridor that he didn't want students poking around in. I never thought he would be hiding something…..dangerous."

"That's the thing Susie," Hermione said using her nickname for the red head. "It didn't just feel dangerous, it felt…..sinister. As if whatever was hiding down there had a mind of its own and was using it to manipulate people in an ancient and….evil way."

Susan stared at her for a long minute. "So what do you want to do about it?"

"It had an ancient voice," Luna put in, for once not sounding dreamy or whimsical at all but rather that she was here and had joined the conversation. "It didn't come from this earth….it's old and from a universe far more powerful than ours."

"What do you mean?" Susan asked.

"That's what I've been trying to get out of her," Hermione explained. "I don't know how she knows that what we were hearing wasn't from this earth, but I don't have much of a reason to doubt her."

"Well then Luna," Susan said. "Why don't you tell us how you know that this…thing….is from another world. And what exactly is it?"

"I can't tell you exactly what it is Susie," Luna said cheerfully. "I haven't seen it yet. But my daddy told me that long ago, there was a race of gods who came to earth from exploring the galaxies beyond the stars and they were the ones who gave magic to humans."

Hermione and Susan exchanged glances. "Okay, go on."

"No one knew where they were from, but they were warriors beyond anything the world had ever seen. There was a time where they ruled over men but after a while decided to return to their home beyond the stars but gave a few select mortals magic and magical artifacts that are as old as the universe itself."

"Luna how do you know all of this?" Susan demanded.

The fairy like blonde looked at the red head as focused as Hermione had ever seen her. "Because my daddy and I are descended from one of the mortals the gods gave magic to."

Hermione and Susan exchanged glances.

"And what sort of…..magical abilities did the gods give to the humans?" the red head asked.

"Elemental powers," Luna said, "Powers over the dead, powers over the mind, powers over the physical form, and powers over nature. The founders were descended from them. And legend had it that the gods drew their power from several mystical objects."

"What were these objects?" Hermione asked, enthralled.

"No one knows," Luna said truthfully. "The stories said that the gods took them with them, but other stories claim that they were left here."

Hermione's heart was racing. If the gods were from where she thought they were from and her father had been descended from them, than that might mean that whatever was hiding beneath the floorboards in the third floor corridor was from Asgard.

She didn't want to think that far ahead yet, and she definitely didn't want to tell her mother just yet. She would just worry and her work was important enough. But this would definitely require some research.

Susan looked thoughtful. "Before my parents died in the first wizarding war, my dad would tell me stories about the founders and the history of magic. He always mentioned objects of power in his stories but I never asked him what he meant.

Hermione was about to reply when they were interrupted.

"There you are!"

The three girls looked up and saw Harry, Dudley, Draco and Neville walking down the hill toward them.

Neville and Draco looked pensive after the night before but Harry and Dudley looked a little annoyed.

As soon as they were closer, Hermione cast her eyes at Neville who was kind of avoiding them and knew that the word had gotten out.

"You told them," she said.

"This is not the kind of thing you hide Mione," Harry exclaimed. "What the hell happened last night? I thought the idea was to avoid the third floor corridor."

"Trust me, I would have been doing exactly that if Malfoy hadn't come up with the brilliant solution of hiding in that room to avoid Peeves!"

"Oh so this is my fault?" the blonde demanded. "You certainly weren't saying that when you followed me."

"Can everyone just calm down for a second?" Susan interjected. "This whole exchange isn't really helping things. Sit down and we'll talk it out."

Her tone betrayed no room for argument and even though Draco looked like he wanted to protest, he slowly sat down with the rest of them.

"Right then," Susan said. "So I wasn't there last night either, but it sounds like big things went down. Mione why don't you give the reader's digest version for anyone that's still confused?"

_Just like her aunt, she's a damn good negotiator, _Hermione thought.

She explained how they had met up with Luna and Neville near the third floor corridor and had been about to head back down to their dorms before they had been cornered by Peeves and had made a dash for the only hiding spot they could get to: the third floor corridor.

There had only been one room inside the hallway and after bundling inside and waiting for the ghost to pass by, all four of them had become aware of an odd smell and a noise behind them.

Turning, they had seen the enormous three headed dog and had nearly passed out at the sight of it.

Here, Hermione grew a little vague. She wasn't sure that she wanted to talk about the fact that she had heard a voice floating up through the trapdoor in the room but it turned out she didn't have to.

Luna broke in then and explained in her dreamy voice that she had heard an ancient voice coming from the trap door that Draco and Dudley couldn't hear. She was glad that the small blonde didn't give it away that she had heard the voice as well, but from the looks Harry and Dudley sent her, they had a feeling that had been the case either way.

When she had finished, everyone was quiet for a long moment.

"Well then," Dudley said after a moment. "It sounds like the headmaster is hiding something potentially dangerous in the third floor corridor."

"It's not just dangerous Dud," Hermione said quietly and they all turned to her, confused. "It…..it felt evil."

Even though it was a sunny day with gentle breezes, a chill swept over the group of first years and even Draco, pompous Draco who didn't seem fazed by a whole lot, shifted uncomfortably.

"So…..what does this mean?" Harry asked. "What do we do?"

"As far as I can see, nothing," Draco said. "We don't know what's going on here and for me, as long as my face is as far away from that dog's claws as possible the happier I'll be."

"As much as I don't like to give him credit so he won't become even more arrogant," Harry said. "I think Draco has a point."

"I am not arrogant!" the blonde protested. "I'm a realist."

Susan coughed into her hand, but it sounded suspiciously like she said the word prat quietly too.

Hermione smirked to herself, although she was still feeling a little worried.

Draco looked like he was about to say something when all of a sudden there was a voice from the hillside behind them.

"Neville mate, there you are! I wanted to ask you something."

Hermione looked up in time to see Ron at the top of the hill starting down toward them. He got close and locked eyes with Draco and there was a momentary pause in the group. Draco's upper lip curled into a sneer before Harry elbowed him hard in the ribs and he coughed and glared at him.

"What was it Ron?" Neville asked quietly. Ron noted Hermione and smiled at her which she returned.

"I didn't know we were taking in stray weasels," Draco muttered and Ron glared at him, about to open his mouth.

Hermione did it for him and Harry elbowed him in the ribs.

"Shut up Malfoy," the strawberry blonde said before looking up at the red head. "Don't mind him Ron, his perspective of the world is changing and I don't think he quite knows how to deal with it."

"Hey!"

"Okay," the red head said and slowly sat down next to her and Neville. They soon got into a quiet conversation about Herbology and the topics of conversation drifted to other things. Twice in the half an hour that followed however, Hermione looked up to see Harry looking at her severely. She knew he wanted to know more about what had happened.

That particular conversation came when the four of them were walking back to the Slytherin dorms later that evening.

"Why didn't you tell us about this right away Mione?" Harry asked. "This isn't exactly like you skipped out on homework or something. There's a monster hiding in a room in the school guarding something potentially dangerous. Why didn't anything?"

"I didn't really know what to say," the strawberry blonde defended. "It's not as if this particular topic of conversation is an easy one to have. Draco and I got back narrowly missing getting caught after curfew and I wanted to process just what the hell it was that I saw."

"Oh trust me, I think we all needed to process that," the Malfoy scion muttered, but the other two boys ignored him.

"Are you considering going back there again?' Dudley asked slowly.

"What?!" Draco exclaimed.

"I don't know," she said. "I'm not entirely convinced that I need to. I want to trust that the headmaster knows what he's doing but on the other hand….."

"Bullshit."

All eyes turned to the blonde who was looking at them incredulously.

"You can't possibly be serious," he continued. "My father always said that Dumbledore was one of the worst things to ever happen to this school and now I'm beginning to see that he was right. What kind of imbecile keeps something like that locked up in a school?"

For once, Hermione didn't have an answer.

And that worried her.

"Draco does have a point," Dudley put in. "Maybe Harry and I should go and check it out and tell you what we think."

"And nearly get mauled by a three headed dog like we almost were?" Hermione asked sarcastically. "Absolutely not. "No one is doing anything, we don't even know that we need to do anything. For all we know, it might be nothing."

Even Draco looked at her like she had three eyes in that moment.

She sighed. "Alright, then let's do some research at least first. I don't want to walk into anything I'm not prepared for,"

Ω

The week leading up to Halloween was pretty quiet, the friends went to classes, swapped tables in the Great Hall to sit with their friends in other houses during mealtimes, did homework and occupied the library.

But ever present in Hermione's mind was the threat of what might be hiding in the third floor corridor. She remembered her mother telling her to pick and choose her battles but when she's nearly mauled by a monster guarding something dangerous?

Well stuff like that gets kind of personal.

It wasn't like she had just heard a story about someone getting mauled by the thing, it had actually tried to maul her and her friends, so Hermione was a little…..offended to say the least.

Besides, this is what her mother did for a living, and Hermione wasn't anything but her mother so she considered this a personal challenge to figure out what the hell was going on here.

The first thing necessary to deduce this puzzle was finding out where on earth the three headed hound from hell had come from.

Luna provided the first clue to that. She just had a nose for sniffing out magical creatures and one day after charms, she came up to Hermione in the hall.

"You looked troubled Hermione," she said. "The Nargles haven't been bothering you today have they?"

The strawberry blonde chuckled. "No Luna, not the Nargles. But it is a mystery that needs to be solved."

"You mean about the third floor corridor," the small blonde said and Hermione nodded. Luna fell into step alongside her.

"I've been thinking," she said.

Hermione smirked. "Have you?"

"Where would get an animal like that to guard something dangerous?"

Hermione paused for a moment and blinked at her. "I was wondering the same thing myself today."

"We could go to the headmaster and ask," Luan suggested. "But that doesn't seem to be a good plan because then he'd know that we were in the third floor corridor and saw things that we weren't supposed to see."

"All of this is redundant Luna, what are you getting at?" Hermione asked.

"Who else knows about large strange creatures on this property?" the blonde asked, her eyes glittering dreamily. "Who else knows about animals and can be around strange ones without getting a limb ripped off?"

"Of course," Hermione whispered. "How could I be such an idiot? Hagrid would know!"

Of course the time constraints surrounding their day didn't allow them to go and see Hagrid right that minute and so Hermione went to class with her friends and tapped her foot anxiously awaiting a time when she could go to the half giant's house for tea and wrest the truth from him.

But then something happened that night which was Halloween which turned out to be another clue into the goings on of the school.

Although this one was much more…violent.

Hermione had forgotten her sweater in the Slytherin dorms and Harry had needed to fetch something from his room.

The two of them were heading back up to the great hall when all of a sudden there could be heard the sound of pounding feet from the stairs in front of them leading to the second floor.

The two best friends exchanged glances frowning.

All of a sudden, Ron came barreling down the stairs. His red hair was all askew, his eyes were wide and he was panting hard.

Upon seeing them he skittered to a halt in front of them and bent over at the knees to catch his breath.

"Ron mate, what's going on?" Harry demanded.

It took a few seconds before the red head was able to answer.

"I…I just saw…..troll….in the school…..heading…..for the second floor. Luna…was…..there."

The two didn't ask any more questions like what the hell a troll was doing in the school and how one had gotten in in the first place.

Just as they moved to follow Ron, there was a loud scream from the Great Hall which could only be identified as Professor Quirrel.

"TROLL! TROLL IN THE DUNGEON!"

This brought about a mass of screaming from all the students inside the hall and then there was the loud voice of professor Dumbledore calling for silence.

"Everyone will please not panic! Prefects escort the students back to their house common rooms. Every teacher to the dungeon."

Needless to say after that speech with a troll running amok in the castle, Hermione had no intention of leaving her blonde best friend wandering somewhere in the castle.

She locked eyes with Harry and Ron and the three of them dashed up the stairs to the second floor.

The minute they came level with the landing however and stared down the corridor, a stench the like of which they had never smelled before hit them and sent Harry and Ron coughing and gagging back to the stairs.

"What the bloody hell is that?" Ron demanded.

"Troll," Hermione said staring quietly down the hall.

So much for Professor Quirrel's claims about the troll being in the dungeon.

The ground beneath their feet had begun to vibrate as if something was pounding the ground with large mallets.

"Get back," Hermione hissed.

She and Harry and Ron flattened themselves against the wall and had no sooner done so when the hulking figure of a monstrous beast came into view. It was at least seven feet tall and the top of its head brushed against the ceiling of the corridor. It was green and brown with slimy looking skin and a dirty loin cloth tied haphazardly about its waist.

There was a long club dragging along the ground from its left hand Hermione heard Ron gulp at the sight of it.

"I thought Professor Quirrel said it was in the dungeons," Harry whispered.

"Yeah well I wouldn't put much stock in what Professor Quirrel says after this," Hermione muttered. She turned to Ron. "Where did you say you saw Luna last?"

The red head swallowed hard before lifting a shaky finger and pointing toward the second floor girls toilets that they were directly in sight of.

Unfortunately, the troll had also spotted the door and was lumbering straight for it.

"L-Luna went in there," Ron stammered. "After charms, those bints, Cho and Marietta were making fun of her and she wanted to be alone."

Hermione cursed under her breath in Russian causing Ron to look at her oddly.

By this time, the troll had lumbered to the door and pushed it open before stepping inside and it slammed shut behind him.

Hermione and Harry nodded at each other.

"On three," the latter whispered.

Ron swallowed hard again, but got a determined glint in his eye which endeared him even more to the strawberry blonde. There was a lion in there somewhere.

The three of them dashed for the door and all counted to three before Harry seized the door handle and yanked it open for Hermione to dash in so he could cover her.

It was something Aunt Tasha had taught them in basic training.

Contrary to what her father had said, Hermione had chosen to bring her blades with her to and from class and had carefully disguised them in her shoes the way that her mother had shown her how to do if she wanted to hide something.

Hermione rarely held her wand in her hand. Like her mother, it was simply easier to strap it to the inside of her wrist. Natasha had discovered that as long as the wand was touching bare skin, she perform magic with the same dexterity as if it were still in her hand. Plus it would make people think twice about trying to disarm you if they thought you could perform wandless magic.

Which Hermione could given what her father was although her mother thought it best that she keep that hidden.

When the three of them had dashed into the bathroom, they came upon one of the oddest and most bizarre sights that Hermione had ever seen.

Against the right and left sides of the wall were a series of stalls where the toilets were located. In the middle of the bathroom was an enormous circular sink.

Directly across from the sink was a large window well and sitting in the window well was a familiar blonde in a blue blouse and skirt, swinging her feet back and forth, humming to herself.

She didn't seem to have noticed her three friends, or the monstrous troll who was standing by the left side of the sink who had turned in their direction.

Up close, the stink of the monster was even worse and it looked even uglier. It's head was hilariously small in comparison to the rest of its body and its ears stuck out like two lumps of lettuce on the side of its head. It had two abnormally large front teeth and

The troll gave a great roar and lumbered in their direction.

"Duck!" Ron yelled and the trio dove out of the wave just in time as the troll brought his club smashing down onto the floor where they had been seconds before.

Hermione rolled and came back onto her feet, her back hitting the door of one of the stalls of the toilets.

"Are you alright Luna?" she yelled up at the blonde who was still sitting in the window well.

"I'm fine Mione," she said dreamily. "I just came here to get away from the Nargles."

"I hate to break it to you," Harry yelled as he ducked under one of the troll's swings. "But I don't think it's the Nargles you need to be worried about right now!"

"We need a distraction!" Ron yelled. He had his wand in his hand, but he wasn't using it and for a brief second, Hermione wondered why.

Then she remembered that when adrenaline and fear collide its very difficult to remain cohesive enough to perform as a functional unit. Ron was only eleven and the only reason she was an eighth as good as her mother was because Natasha had been drilling it into her since she was four.

"I have an idea!" the red head yelled and though he looked terrified, he swallowed hard, gritted his teeth and dove for the sink.

The troll was just turning towards him when Ron grabbed hold of the faucet and wrenched the water on full blast causing it to shoot out of the pipe and into the troll's startled face.

_"__Immobilise!"_ Harry yelled and a jet of yellow light shot from his wand towards the troll.

A spell like that would have worked if it had been a smaller animal but because this was an enormous troll and a magical creature to boot it had built up a bit of a resistance to spells which was to their detriment.

The troll swung its enormous club and all three first years dove to the ground. The club wiped out the top half section of the stalls on the right wall completely sending a shower of shards of wood everywhere.

"It's not working!" Ron yelled.

_We need something stronger, _Hermione thought, _or we're all going to be turned into hamburger before anyone realizes that we're in here._

All of a sudden Luna let out a startled yelp and Hermione twisted in her direction.

Somehow the troll had managed to lumber in her direction and seized hold of one of her feet which were dangling down from the window well.

Hermione was in the motion of diving forward and reaching for her knives when something strange happened.

The moment that the troll touched Luna, the small blonde reached down with her hand and placed it palm open on the trolls face. The second she did so and ice spread forward from her palm and began to cover the troll's forehead.

It must have been painful because the troll let out a strangled howl and stumbled backward towards the sinks.

Deciding to ignore what she had seen for now, Hermione yanked her knives from her shoes, darted forward and slashed the backs of the troll's knees. In every living creature there was a tendon in the back of the knees that aided in the ability to stand. If it was removed, a person would do the same as the troll was doing now and fall to their knees.

Even on its knees however the troll was still formidable because it still had its club. It let out a roar and swing at Hermione and she ducked the wood whistling past her ear.

Thankfully its brain wasn't as big as its muscles because the club became embedded in the top of the column of the sinks causing water to explode everywhere and drench everyone.

"Will someone bloody do something?" Ron bellowed. "Or we're going to end up like mum's Christmas pudding!"

_I'd like nothing better!_ Hermione thought grimly to herself as she ducked under one of the trolls wide swings.

Dumb as it was, it seemed to have figured out that the club wasn't coming loose and had so taken to attacking them with its fists instead which were just as dense and meaty as its club.

_"__Stupefy!"_ Harry yelled and a jet of red light hit the troll directly in the head which caused it to stagger a bit as if it were drunk. It raised itself onto one knee in an attempt to get to its feet.

Fortunately, it gave Hermione the opportunity that she needed to ensure a kill shot.

She dashed forward, blades drawn, leapt onto the knee of the troll and lunged upward slashing her twin knives across its throat completely decapitating the troll before she fell into a roll and came up standing as the body of the troll crashed to the floor.

There was a moment of silence between the four first years. Hermione was panting slightly and her knives were covered in gore.

She turned and gave Harry a weak smile who returned it.

"B-Bloody hell," Ron stammered gripping the edge of the sink so hard his knuckled turned white. He was staring at the troll's head as if transfixed and his face was so pale his freckles stood out as if someone had thrown red confetti on his face.

"You alright mate?" Harry asked uncertainly.

Ron swallowed hard again and nodded shakily. "I just need to wait for me knees to stop shaking then I think I'll be okay."

Luna had jumped lightly down from the window well and was staring at the troll dreaming.

"That was a nasty Nargle," she said. "Thank you Mione, Harry Ron. I don't think I could have handled that by myself."

Hermione meanwhile was staring at the frozen spot on the troll's forehead that Luna had touched.

_I don't know, _she thought. _I'm beginning to think you are capable of far more than you let on Luna. _

Just then there was the sound of pounding feet by the door and it was wrenched open to reveal Professors McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout, Snape and Dumbledore.

They stared at the scene in front of them from the demolished bathroom stalls to the troll club embedded in the top of the sinks to the water everywhere to the decapitated troll to the four soaked first years one of whom was carrying two long knives covered in gore.

McGonagall had spied Ron who was shaking now even worse than when the troll had been attacking them.

She stepped forward, her eyes blazing. "Explain yourselves. Now."

Hermione stepped forward and seized one of the still dry rolls of toilet paper and proceeded to wipe the gore off of her blades.

This was going to be a long night.

"Mum's going to kill me," Ron whimpered.

Ω

Hermione and Harry stumbled back to the Slytherin common room two hours later, the both of them completely exhausted from the rigorous questioning from all four of the heads of house as well as the headmaster.

Hermione had watched the headmaster closely throughout the exchange but he had been strangely quiet. His eyes had been far away and she wondered he if couldn't be bothered to talk to them at all.

When she and Harry entered the Slytherin common room, it was all but empty except for two blondes sitting in tense positions on the couches.

As soon as they stepped inside, they jumped up.

"Where the bloody hell were you?" Dudley demanded. "Draco and I couldn't find you in all the hustle and when we got back down here you had vanished into thin air. We were worried sick!"

"Well Dursley here was," Draco said absently checking his nails as if he didn't have a care in the world. "Malfoy's are known for their iron clad nerves."

"Shut up prat," Dudley fumed. "So where were you?"

Harry glanced at Hermione. "Do you want to tell them or shall I?"

She stifled a yawn. "You go ahead. I'm tired. I'll see you in the morning."

She left the three of them with Harry looking amused, Dudley looking furious and Draco looking a bit of both.

After their questioning, Hermione had noticed a few things off about some of the teachers. Professor Quirrel for instance looked uncharacteristically non stuttery while Professor Snape was trying to hide a terrible limp and when he turned slightly to the side, she caught sight of a bloodied knee, almost as if it had been torn by something.

What on earth was going on here?

Throughout the entire questioning period Snape had been sending threatening looks at Quirrel, even more so than the ones he reserved for the students. Hermione wondered if there had been some kind of exchange between during the troll attack because she couldn't recall them ever even speaking before it.

Quirrel's purple turban had been slightly askew and once when she had looked closely at it, the strawberry blonde had been sure that she had even seen it move. There had been no wind in the headmaster's office, but she was certain she had even heard something like a whisper.

No one else seemed to notice it but Hermione had seen Luna sit up a bit straighter when she thought the sound had emitted.

This was getting stranger and stranger.

Over the next few days, Hermione's friends plied her and Harry and Ron and Luna with questions about what had happened in the bathroom. She told them, leaving both Luna's strange power out as well as the existence of her knives.

Ron and Draco were still being frigidly polite to each other, but Hermione knew it was just a matter of time before the influence of his father gave way to the influence of his friends and old differences were put aside.

The troll incident was miraculously put to rest with very few people finding out about it and for this Hermione was grateful.

November passed without incident rendering all of her friends so busy that they had no time to go and see Hagrid about his potential connection to the monster upstairs.

Christmas arrived and everyone went home for the holidays. Neville and Luna opted to remain at school however and Susan promised everyone a box of homemade truffles for the holidays.

The train ride back was a lot of fun as it allowed everyone to relax and forget about the strange things that had been happening around school.

Hermione promised to write to all of her friends and she, Harry and Dudley all piled into Aunt Petunia's car and went home to Little Whinging.

Natasha was even allowed a few days off work to go home as well.

They celebrated in the Dursley-Black household on Christmas morning around an enormous tree that Regulus had dragged in with the help of his brother. Sirius had arrived from France a few days earlier and everyone was thrilled to see him. He was full of stories for Harry, Dudley and Hermione about how stuck up and pompous the French were, especially the Veela.

They were a species that had originated in the far north of France during the renaissance period when a fairy crossed with a human.

They had this allure that was impossible for men to resist, but ironically, perhaps because of his years of imprisonment, Sirius was one of the few.

This made him intriguing to many of the Veela women, in particular, one called Emmeline. The two had begun a tentative relationship a month before but Hermione could already see that her uncle Siri was smitten.

She, Harry and Dudley kept mum about the events going on at the school because they weren't entirely sure themselves what was going on.

Petunia, despite the fact that she was almost six months pregnant and quite noticeably showing insisted upon cooking a lavish Christmas dinner.

The children all received presents, but the one that Hermione cherished the most was one that wasn't even for her.

On Christmas morning, right before they were to go over to the Dursley Black residence, Hermione discovered a beautiful slim brown box sitting on the kitchen table by the glass doors.

Hermione had a feeling right away that it wasn't for her. This belief was confirmed by the look on her mother's face when Natasha came into the kitchen.

"I think it's from Dad," Hermione said quietly holding out the box.

Natasha gingerly took the present from her daughter and opened the latch with deft fingers. Hermione leaned closer to see what it was, and gasped quietly when she saw the simple but beautiful ruby necklace.

There was no note but when they both looked at the underside of the lid of the box, there was a symbol there that was exactly the same marking that adorned Natasha's arm. The symbol that meant heart.

Hermione pursed her lips and glanced up at her mother to see that there was a small smile on her face.

Natasha wasn't extravagant, so the small ruby necklace that was about the size of a dime was perfect for her to wear and no one would notice.

_Even when he's not here my dad is quite the romantic, _Hermione thought smugly to herself.

Later on that day she found a bracelet made of silver with the same colored stone as her eyes.

In fact, it seemed that presents were coming from everywhere. Hermione Harry and Dudley received presents from all of their friends. There was a box of chocolate frogs and a Weasley jumper from Ron, a green one for Harry a yellow one for Dudley and a blue one for Hermione. Neville sent plants from his greenhouse that Dudley had to swear to his mum wouldn't come alive and eat her. Luna sent Hermione a bottle cap necklace that she swore would keep away the Nargles and Susan sent them a book on the history of wizarding law which Hermione started in on right away.

Regulus and Sirius were both rather shocked that they had made friends with the Malfoy scion, Regulus was pleased but Sirius was a little suspicious. His frown changed however when Natasha wacked him upside the head.

Regulus announced over Christmas dinner that he was being promoted. Ivan had been so impressed with his work that he was elevating him to senior agent and that he would have a team of junior agents under him. It also meant a pay raise and a bigger office as well.

Natasha knew that Regulus liked his new job and the experience it was giving him, but the end game for him was ultimately SHIELD. She was already contemplating ways that she could go to Fury and talk Reg up.

And speaking of Fury, he had finally called her into his office and given her her marching orders. She was to become part of Tony Stark's legal team and a part of his inner circle. The entire world knew that he was Iron Man now and because of that, there would be many people who would want to use his technology. After the Christmas holiday, she was to fly to Madrid where Stark would be participating in some sort of Indy 500 race.

Merlin if she didn't dislike the man already.

Natasha had simply been observing him quietly from an apartment in California just down the street from where Stark Industries was.

She knew there would be a time coming when they would have to interact with each other.

God, she wasn't looking forward to that.

Hermione meanwhile was extremely pleased to find out that her mother would be shadowing the infamous Tony Stark and Petunia had announced that she was having a baby girl which of course was cause for a toast among all gathered.

All in all it was a good Christmas. The most surprising gift came later that night when she was in her room at Number 5 putting her gifts away.

A midnight black owl came and landed on the window sill with a green wrapped package tied with silver twine.

"Well hello there," Hermione said opening the glass so the owl could hop inside. "You're certainly beautiful aren't you? What's your name?"

Rynden trilled a few notes at the sight of the owl and the black bird sounded back.

It stuck out its leg for Hermione to untie the package and when she had done so, she realized there was a small note on top

_Granger_

She smirked, there was only one friend who referred to her and all the rest by their last names. He always said making friends in Slytherin house was dangerous and that he preferred to make allies instead. Referring to them all by their last names was his way of doing that.

Hermione untied the silver twine and her eyebrows rose when a pretty blue scarf with her initials monogrammed on it in silver tumbled out of the wrapping.

It was soft and smooth and perfect for the winter. She put it around her neck and when she looked in the mirror, it made her already copper locks appear like red flames.

She glanced down at the note.

_Granger_

_Happy Christmas_

_D. M_

_He was never much for words,_ Hermione thought to herself.

She put the scarf away and went to bed, wondering about what the new year would bring and whether or not it would be just as strange and exciting as the last.

With dangerous creatures roaming the classrooms and suspicious teachers as well as evil demonic voices, it wasn't difficult to think that this year was going to be a hell of a ride.

Ω

**So, no Thor in this one although don't worry he will be in the next one. Natasha will spend the next six months or so with Tony Stark as the events of Iron Man 2 unfold. We got to see the troll battle in this one and in the new school year the mystery of what's buried beneath the floor of the school will continue to unfold. I can promise the climax will be good and it's one that not even Quirrel/Voldemort will be prepared for. Don't for get to review guys and enjoy!**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26

Though she was no seer, it was eerily odd that Hermione's predictions rang true the moment she and her friends stepped off the carriages and went into the Great Hall for the Welcome back feast.

She was met right away by the quartet of Ron, Draco, Susan and Luna who had all opted to stay at Hogwarts for the duration of the holidays. They went on to tell Harry Hermione, Dudley and Neville who had come in behind them that they had spent the time investigating the third floor corridor.

"You didn't go in did you?" Hermione demanded as they all sat down at the Ravenclaw table for the welcome back feast.

Draco scowled. "Do I look stupid? Of course not, besides what with Weasley's knees knocking together like wind chimes the monster would have been able to hear us from a mile away."

"Hey!" the red head glared at him. "My knees weren't knocking! And what's your excuse for going white as a sheet and almost passing out?"

"Really?" Susan asked raising an eyebrow at the blonde. "You almost passed out Draco?"

He huffed. "It was very drafty in the corridor, it would have been unnatural if I didn't get short of breath."

The rest of them snickered at the blonde who proceeded to look very put out and turned back to their meals.

Conversation continued on all around them and the group went back to whispering about the third floor corridor.

"It was all quiet in the corridor," Susan continued, "and we had just decided to call it a night and come back to the dorms when there came a low growl from behind the doors. We stopped because we were pretty sure it was the monster."

"I crept a little closer to the door," Ron continued. "Just so I could hear better."

"Typical Gryffindor thing to do, charging headlong into danger," Draco muttered.

Ron rolled his eyes but ignored him. "Anyway, I put my ear to the door and to my surprise I didn't hear growling. But I did hear something like soft music…..as well as a strange voice."

He shivered. "Bloody hell guys it was creepy. It was like a snake hissing and it would go up and down and up and down….and then all of a sudden it stopped."

"What happened then?" Dudley demanded.

"We heard footsteps," Susan went on. "We barely had time to dash around the corner before the door opened and a man came out!"

"What did he look like?" Hermione demanded.

"It was too dark to see," Ron explained and Hermione got the feeling he was still disappointed that they hadn't been able to catch the crook in the act of whatever it was he had been doing.

"He was tall," Luna put in dreamily. "And he spoke with two voices, one high and one low."

Everyone paused in the meals and turned to the small blonde who was happily chewing away at her pecan tart.

"What do you mean he had two voices Luna?" Susan asked. "We only heard the one hissing voice and we don't even know if that was the one coming from him."

"Trust me, he had two voices," Luna said firmly. "When the time comes I'll prove it to you."

Hermione mind was whirling. Just what had gone on here while they were away on Christmas holidays? She was beginning to feel a little guilty and wished she had stayed.

"Who do you think it was?" Ron asked. "I've been wracking my brains trying to come up with something but nothing makes sense."

"You're not thinking outside the box Weasley," Draco muttered. "As usual."

Ron glared at him. "Well why don't you come up with something if you're so smart then?"

Draco smirked. "Alright then, I will. Did you make a list of all of the people in the castle at the time we went and investigated the third floor corridor?"

Ron's face turned red and Hermione felt sorry for him for a moment.

Neville patted his shoulder. "That's alright mate, the important point is that we figure this out."

He fished a piece of parchment and quill from his bag and spread it out smoothly on the table. "So who was in the castle during the holidays that could have gone into the room? Don't leave anybody out."

Ron stroked his chin. "Well let's see, there were all of the professors and the headmaster as well as me, Malfoy, Luna and Susan, but you can rule us out because we were watching it."

"There was another two boys from Slytherin," Draco put in. "Theo Nott and Blaise Zabini."

Neville carefully wrote their names down.

"Padma Patil and Terry Boot stayed over the holidays too," Luna supplied.

Neville's quill was scratching faster than ever.

"Andrew Gourlay and Kevin Fishburne sixth year Gryffindors stayed too," Ron went on.

"And there was Ernie Macmillian and an older boy named Cedric Diggory in Hufflepuff," Susan finished.

She glanced over at the Hufflepuff table from where they were sitting at the Ravenclaw one and Hermione saw her friend glance at a boy with golden blonde hair and deep blue eyes. He was a fourth year and quite good looking.

Hermione smirked to herself, it was obvious Susie fancied him.

What was more obvious was the fact that Harry seemed to be aware of the fact that Susie fancied Cedric because his grip on his fork tightened ever so slightly.

_Interesting…_

She was so busy thinking about what could be in the third floor corridor and the changing dynamics with her friends that Hermione barely noticed when the dishes and plates were cleared.

Professor Dumbledore gave the beginning of the New Year announcements, once again reiterating that students must stay out of the third floor corridor.

After saying goodnight to the rest of her friends, Hermione Harry Dudley and Draco made their way down to the dungeons.

It stood to reason that neither of them said much on the way down.

When they got to the portrait of Salazar Slytherin, Hermione turned to her friends. "I had a thought during dinner."

"And that was?" Harry asked.

"If Hagrid was the one to put that monster in the room in the third floor corridor to guard something than someone must have asked him to put it there because it was necessary."

Dudley's eyes sharpened in on her meaning right away. "You think Professor Dumbledore asked him to put that monster there?"

"Actually," Harry said rubbing the side of his face. "It's the only scenario that makes sense. If Dumbledore is hiding something potentially dangerous and evil inside of the school than he would be the only one to sanction a guard dog. The question is why?"

"Do you think its some sort of dangerous magical artifact?" Draco asked. "I only say that because my ancestors used to have monsters or dangerous animals to guard their family vaults. Inside there were a host of potentially dangerous and cursed objects that would spell disaster if they got out."

"I can't believe I'm saying this," Dudley said. "But Draco, I think you're a genius. That's the only explanation that makes sense. I very much doubt he'd be hiding some type of prisoner in the floor boards."

It was a sentiment which all caused them to shudder.

"But if he's hiding some dangerous magical artifact," Dudley said slowly. "Just what is it?"

"I don't know," Hermione replied grimly. "But whatever it is we better find out soon, because it looks like someone else already knows about it too. And they might try and steal it."

Ω

Natasha adjusted her seat next to Clint on the flight from Monaco and settled the file of Tony Stark in her lap. She had already read it from cover to cover and was only going over it again to see if there was anything that she had missed.

Stark had no sense of subtlety whatsoever and while others may have tried to keep their identity as Iron Man a secret, he let it be known as soon as he finished fighting off his former partner Obadiah or the Iron Monger as the public had dubbed him as.

_Lack of a cover is going to come back and bite you in the ass Stark, _she thought to herself.

She and Clint had gone to the race in Monaco to observe the man who she would be tailing for the next little while and the both of them had had….mixed reactions.

At the appearance of Ivan Vanko and his electric whips on the track, the entire stadium had been thrown into chaos and Stark had been hard pressed to don his Mark V armor and deal with this bizarre threat.

Though he had been successful, his armor was nearly destroyed before the authorities had managed to subdue Vanko and remove Stark from the area.

Ivan Vanko was another man that Natasha had to read some more on. A genius as well, he was from Russia and apparently his father Anton Vanko had been an old business partner of Howard Stark's.

There was some bad blood there it seemed.

Natasha had observed the manic look in Stark's eyes before he drove in the race and while he was fighting off Vanko.

_Does this man have a death wish? _She had thought.

She also wanted to know more about Vanko's intentions about targeting Stark, but Fury was likely to know more about that and would have a file for her once she returned to SHIELD.

Clint was a lot cooler about the situation. He was impressed with Stark's tech but not is use of it. Something like Stark had created would significantly reduce the need for soldiers fighting overseas. Given the fact that he was soldier before he joined SHIELD, she could understand the slight amount of bitterness he might be feeling.

With robots fighting the wars there would be less death on the fields of battle. It would mean more money spent though.

Natasha however could understand Stark's reticence in giving his suits to the government. Governments were corrupt and they couldn't guarantee that they would use Stark's suits for the purpose that they were supposed to be used for. Stark didn't want to be responsible for more death after he shut down his weapons program.

Natasha glanced down at Hermione's latest letter. Her little girl was keeping things very general and Natasha was able to sense lies even on paper and she had a feeling the eleven year old was keeping something from her.

She went into meticulous detail about the details of the school and her new friends and her classes and grades so far but nothing about how life in the school was going.

_I need to speak to her once I get back to Washington. _

The plane was nearing the shores of the U.S once again when all of a sudden the captain announced that there was significant turbulence off the coast of California and they would need to make an emergency landing.

Natasha cursed. She briefly considered taking Clint and apparating out of there, but that would blow her cover as a witch and she really wasn't ready to do that yet. She was even more formidable of a fighter because she could get in and out of a fight with her magic, but she wasn't ready for that to be known yet.

Clint sighed. "This is going to delay our trip back to Washington. We may have to find somewhere to wait out the storm before we head back."

Natasha nodded and glanced out the window. The clouds were going a deep dark grey and she could see lightning in the distance.

Looking at lightning reminded her of her significant other….for lack of a better word. She hadn't seen him in around a month but she wasn't worried. They were nearing the coast because she could see the shoreline in the distance.

All of a sudden, there was a roar from overhead and several of passengers screamed. The lights in the cabin flickered, oxygen masks dropped from the ceiling and the captain's voice came over the loud speaker.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are flying right into the middle of a lightning storm. I would ask everyone to not panic, fasten your seatbelts and if you feel short of breathe take advantage of the oxygen masks in front of you."

Natasha and Clint exchanged glances and put their files away before following directions.

"Well I think we're in for a bumpy ride," the archer said.

He had no sooner said the words when all of a sudden there was loud vibrating sensation, almost as if someone had struck the body of the plane and the whole cabin began to shake.

Aside from Clint and Natasha there was no one not screaming now.

All of a sudden, the pressure in the cabin plummeted and Natasha felt her stomach rise into her throat as the plane dropped out of the sky.

The alarm on the plane was going steadily and people were screaming so loudly it was hard for Natasha to hear.

Impulsively she unhooked her seat belt and grabbed her brief case before turning to her partner. Screw the laws the magic right now. She wanted to get out of this plane in one piece.

"What are you doing?" Clint demanded.

"Do you want to get out of here alive?" she asked.

"I think I'd like that very much!"

"Then stop talking and take my arm!"

He did so and Natasha surged to her feet before focusing an image of the shoreline in her mind. She spun on her foot and with a loud crack, the both of them disappeared from the cabin and the plummeting plane.

Ω

The New Year proved to be even busier than Hermione expected. She loved school, but she wanted to find out what on earth was going on within its walls.

She and her friends had taken night shifts right before curfew to steal down to the third floor corridor and check to see if there were any other activity going on there.

But everything had been silent on the corridor, so silent it was driving Hermione crazy.

However the time finally came when they could go and see Hagrid about the strange goings on in the castle.

Not everyone was able to make it however and so it fell to Harry Hermione, Dudley and Luna to make the trek down to the gamekeepers cottage. He had invited them for tea several times but because of the time constraints on their classes not all of them had been able to go.

Hogwarts kept the first years busy of course. Hermione realized with some satisfaction that Professor Snape was warming up to Harry. As much as the dungeon bat could warm up to someone she supposed.

It helped that Harry had thick skin and wasn't cowed by the dour potions master. Potions remained his favorite subject and one of Hermione's as well.

Finally that Friday afternoon the three Slytherins and one Ravenclaw headed down near the Black Lake to the cottage of the gameskeeper.

It might have been big enough for Hagrid who was a half giant but it was enormous to the four eleven year olds.

"Hagrid has a lot of animals around," Luna said cheerfully. "But I don't see any Nargles or Wrackspurts around so that's a good sign at least."

Hermione smirked at the blonde and stepped up to the large door of the cottage and wrapped silently on it.

"Hold on!" A deep voice bellowed.

There was a shuffling from behind the door and a series of whines which caused them to all exchange glances.

"Back Fang," the gams keeper muttered and finally the door was wrenched open to reveal the half giant holding the collar of an enormous boar hound who was straining to get to them.

"Arry, Mione, Dudley, Luna," Hagrid said with a cheerful smile. "Come in, come in. I was wondering when you were going to come and see me."

The four of them entered the house and were not surprised to see that it was simply one room. There was a kitchen sink and cupboards on the right side of the room. Directly opposite the door there was an enormous bed covered over with a patchwork quilt. On the left side of the room there was an enormous fire place with a massive chair sitting in front of it. In the center of the room there was a large table and chairs.

"I just put the kettle on," the half giant said shuffling them inside along with Fang who seemed to have taken a liking to Dudley. "Sit down. How's school been?"

He was met with a series of groans which caused him to frown. "Not that bad has it been? Your four are all smart, you'll do well."

"It's not that Hagrid," Harry explained. "Classes have been brutal. I don't think I had this much homework when I was in primary school!"

"Don't exaggerate Harry," Luna said primly. "It's only the Nargles that are making you think it's a lot. School's actually quite easy."

Despite Luna's…..odd disposition, she was smart as a whip, easily as smart as Hermione and when the two of them put their brains together they were almost unstoppable. Ron sometimes whispered how they were both bloody mental but they ignored him.

"Just because we're not bloody geniuses like you two doesn't mean that we don't like school," Dudley protested. "It's just a lot that's all."

"Where's everyone else by the way?" Hagrid asked.

"Susan's in the library with Ron and Neville and Draco said he wanted to get some practice on his broom," Harry explained.

He and Draco were Chasers on the Slytherin Quidditch team after the both of them had demonstrated considerable prowess in their first flying lesson. They proved to be quite the team on the field as well and helped to make the Slytherin house team unbeatable during the year. Of course this served to make the blonde even more puffed up than he already was but for once it was a good type of arrogance if there was any type.

Hermione always got a smile on her face watching her two good friends zoom over the pitch. Her father could fly as long as he had his hammer in hand and while Hermione wanted to try flying, she wanted to do it on her own terms without the help of some aid. Her father had told her that her uncle Loki couldn't fly so her inability might have to do with her godly genes.

It was amazing how they were all coming together as friends. Draco had mellowed a considerable amount as had Ron, although he still had a temper and that characteristic Gryffindor bravery. Susan was the glue in the group which kept them all together with her constant calm. She knew how to smooth over any type of situation. Neville, though still shy was the voice of reason.

Hermione briefly wondered how they were going to bring up the subject of the three headed dog with Hagrid. If he had put the dog in the third floor corridor by the sanction of the headmaster, he might not be willing to talk about it.

It turned out she didn't have to.

"You have the most beautiful animals here Hagrid," Luna said as she took a sip of the tea that the half giant handed her. "Where do you get them all?"

_Bless you Luna. _

Right away Hagrid puffed up with pride. "Well I get them from all over you know. Some I get from traders in Romania, some I get from overseas. Matter of fact, there was one I got over a game of cards right in Hogsmeade!"

Harry, Dudley and Hermione exchanged glances

"What kind of animal was it?" Hermione asked tentatively reaching for one of the rock cakes on the plate in the middle of the table. She gingerly took a small bite and almost choked before setting it down on a napkin and taking a sip of her tea.

_I guess the rock part of the name wasn't just for the appearance. _

"Really?" Dudley asked slowly. "What kind of animal was it?"

"Oh it was a rare specimen," Hagrid said proudly. "Their only talked about in legends you know and extremely difficult to find. Oh but it was a beauty, big black powerful and strong."

Unconsciously all four first years scooted to the edge of their chairs. This must have been the animal that was in the third floor corridor. It just had to be.

"But of course I had to get it," Hagrid went on. "I couldn't let an opportunity pass me buy to have one of those animals. I won it from a trader in Hogsmeade actually. You meet all sorts of interesting ones there. And I'll let you in on a little secret, all the best animal traders go there."

Harry looked like he was about to pull his hair out from the stress of not knowing.

"Go on," Hermione said severely, honing on what she was sure was the answer to what they wanted to know.

"But when I told Professor Dumbledore he asked if I was willing to let him – "

All of a sudden Hagrid got a funny look on his face, almost as if he had said too much and clamped his lips shut. "But anyways that's the professors business."

Hermione looked at her best mates and frowned slightly. Hagrid may have been a bit dim but he wasn't completely short of a full shilling. He obviously knew that what he was about to say was classified in a manner of speaking and no amount of prodding from them would loosen his lips.

Finally, Hermione realized they were going to get no more out of him with their questions and changed the subject back to school for which the half giant looked immensely grateful.

Harry and Dudley shot her looks but she shook her head shortly and they took the hint.

As soon as the door to Hagrid's hut was closed, Luna turned to them. "He's extremely loyal to professor. No amount of asking or Nargle threatening is going to make him speak up. We'll have to find out why the monster's in the corridor another way."

Hermione nodded. She was a little frustrated though. They had been so close and all of a sudden, Hagrid had wised up.

_This is going to require a bit more cunning, _the strawberry blonde thought.

Ω

They appeared with a crack on the shoreline and the moment Natasha released Clint, he swayed a bit and fell to one knee.

"What…the hell….was that?" he gasped out.

"Don't worry," Natasha said calmly. "It's just vertigo, it'll pass. I was like that the first time I apparated too."

"Apparated?" Clint asked getting unsteadily to his feet. "What the hell is apparated?"

"Apparition is what we just did Clint," Natasha explained patiently. "I was able to magically teleport us out of the plane onto the shore."

The storm was pretty bad on the ground too. The sea was roiling like a wild animal and there were flashes of lightning all around them. The wind was whipping her hair so wildly she could barely see and the thunder was rumbling overhead.

Natasha could just make out the plane in the distance. It was unsteadily coming in for a landing.

"Okay first of all," the archer said. "I think you have some explaining to do."

"I'd be happy too," Natasha said. "But I think we should find a drier locale first. There's no way we're going to make it back to Washington today."

The two hurried up the shore and within ten minutes came in sight of a sea side diner. They were welcomed in soaking wet by the owner and were given towels and seated in a nearby booth.

Only after they had dried off some did Clint turn to her. "I'm sensing that this isn't some sort of device that Fury's given you to transport you out of trouble then?"

Natasha rolled her eyes. "Don't be ridiculous Clint even Stark tech can't do that. This was magic pure and simple."

"And I'm the tooth fairy."

Natasha smirked and rolled up the sleeve of her right arm. Her partner was anything if not cynical about anything strange or other worldly in the universe and even though he had seen a frozen aircraft being thawed upon which there was thought to still be life, he remained skeptical.

"Alright," she said. "In order to keep this short, a practical demonstration is probably the best way."

She made sure he could see the piece of wood bound to the inside of her arm before she pointed it at the salt shaker on a nearby table. Regulus had been teaching her how to cast non verbally and while she couldn't do it for everything, the summoning charm wasn't one of them.

The salt shaker flew into her hand from across the room and even I've – seen – it – all – and – done – it – all – Clint blinked.

He looked across the room to the table where the salt shaker had been and then back at her hand for a few times before he rubbed the side of his face as if he were seeing things.

"Okay then," he said. "How long….exactly….have you been able to do that?"

Natasha untied her wand from her arm and twirled it back and forth between her fingers like she would one of her knives. "It's not like it's a skill I picked up at summer camp Barton. Magic is something you're born with. When my parents died I stopped practicing, I learned to control my accidental magic and I joined the Red Room when I was young so I could have some control over my life, and I essentially left magic behind me."

"And now?' Clint prompted.

"I met someone a few years ago who told me that magic was a part of me and that it would be wrong and foolish to ignore a gift like that," Natasha said fondly thinking of Regulus.

When he had found out before their raid on Azkaban that she was a non-practicing witch and why, he had given her that little piece of advice that made her think. After the raid she came back and asked him if he would teach her how to use her wand properly again as it would help her in her jobs and she had happily agreed.

Natasha had used it before she met Regulus to dispose of Vernon but it had been necessary then, and she had put it away after.

"You know," Clint said. "Now that I think about it, I did have a sister whose son was sent away to a school for the gifted when he was eleven. Ironically the M word was mentioned but I brushed it off. Does Fury or Coulson know?"

"Hell no, and I'd like to keep it that way for as long as possible."

"Point taken," he said. "In the meantime, I think we need a place to lay low until this storm passes."

He pulled out his cellphone. "And I have just the place in mind."

Ω

After their near success at Hagrid's Hermione hurried to the library with Susan and Draco to see if she could look in the history books to find a picture of the three headed dog for more clues.

"So he just clammed up?" Susie asked. "You couldn't get anything more out of him?"

"Believe me, I tried," Hermione said grimly. "But I'm not my mother I don't know any advanced interrogation techniques."

"Merlin Granger that's Gryffindor thinking," Draco said quietly as they stepped into the doors of the library. "You need to be even more subtle than that."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "Really? Enlighten me then Malfoy since you seem so informed. "What would you have done?"

"Well it's really quite simple," the blonde explained as they walked quietly through the stacks. The library was nearly empty because it was almost dinner time and most students were in their common rooms. "What I would have done is not lead with the animal route at all. You're going at him directly that way."

Susan and Hermione exchanged glances.

"Okay," the red head said. "What would you have led with then?"

"You should have tried his everyday habits," Draco explained. "If you had asked him what he liked to do when he wasn't doing his job, you would have learned right away that he likes to go into Hogsmeade once every week or so and go to the Hogs Head."

"Wait a minute," Hermione said coming to a screeching halt. "I think we've been going about this all wrong."

"Well that certainly seems obvious," Draco muttered but the strawberry blonde ignored him.

"What do you mean Mione?" Susan asked.

"I mean that we've been assuming we can get the information out of Hagrid," Hermione said. "But he might not be the only one who has it. Is there any way we can get off of the school property without being seen?"

"You want to sneak out?" Susan asked. "Do you know how much trouble we'll be in if we get caught?"

Hermione smirked at the red head. "But we're not going to get caught Susie. I happen to have a friend who has a fail safe."

On Christmas morning Harry had received a rather odd present. It was a cloak of invisibility along with a note with only the words: _this belonged to your father, _attached.

It would be ideal for sneaking out of the castle.

When she explained it to Draco and Susan they both had mixed reactions.

"I don't know Mione," Susan said uneasily.

"This is madness," Draco said. But then his expression slowly morphed into a grin. "But I like it. When do you want to go?"

"Tomorrow," Hermione said. "Although if we take Harry's cloak it can only cover three of us and not all of us should go anyways."

"Well what's the best way to get to Hogsmeade then?" Susan asked. "I mean we won't be able to go on visits there for another two years so how do we get there without being seen? An invisibility cloak is fine and everything but that's going to get a little awkward the three of us traveling under it from the castle to the village."

"We'll figure that out with everyone else," Hermione put in. "Right now, forget the research, let's get to dinner."

"Are my ears deceiving me?" Draco said clutching at his chest in mock theatrics. "Did the great bookworm herself Hermione Granger suggest we forget about the research?"

"Shut up Malfoy," Hermione said as the three exited the library. "I don't always have my nose stuck in a book, but if I recall correctly, yours is always stuck in the air."

"Hey!"

Susan laughed.

Ω

Out of all the cars Natasha had expected Clint to call for, a minivan pulling up outside if the diner wasn't one of them. And she definitely wasn't expecting a pretty middle aged woman to get out of the minivan.

And she definitely wasn't expecting Clint to call her honey and kiss her.

"Nat, this is my wife Laura," Clint said turning to the red head. "Laura this is my partner Natasha."

"It's nice to meet you," the dark haired woman said. "Clint's already told me all about you."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at her partner. "Really? Apparently the courtesy hasn't been extended this way."

The archer looked a little sheepish. "No one besides Fury knows. I wanted to keep it that way."

Natasha considered the massive secrets she was keeping about Hermione and Thor that no one besides her knew about and nodded, seeing his point. "I suppose that makes sense. It's just of all people to be married I didn't expect you to be one of them."

Laura laughed and Clint looked insulted. "Well I suppose being unpredictable is what works for me. As long as my enemies don't think I have anything to hide they won't come after me."

_I couldn't agree more,_ Natasha thought.

And speaking of which, she had to call Hermione and let her know what happened. The eleven year old would likely have a fit when she found out.

"Well I suppose we should beat feet then," Laura said. "Hop in Nat. We'll get back to the safe house right away."

The red head nodded and pulled open the side door of the minivan only to be confronted with one more surprise.

"Daddy!" the two year old blonde boy cried from his car seat.

_Well this day is just getting weirder and weirder._

"Hey buddy!" Clint said leaning into the van to give the two year old a hug. "Look how big you've gotten!"

He chucked the child under the chin and the little boy laughed, sending a pang through Natasha. She remembered when Hermione was small and laughed like that.

"It seems you've been keeping a lot of secrets Clint," she muttered and the archer laughed.

"Everyone in this business has secrets Nat, even you it seems."

They all piled into the minivan and Natasha was seated next to the two year old who they had named Nathan.

"Hermione would love you little guy," she whispered as the baby latched onto her finger, totally unafraid of the new person.

When Laura found out as they drove about the near plane crash, she looked like she was going to have a fit until Natasha had reluctantly explained about her abilities and what she had done to get them out.

Surprisingly, she took it better than Clint had done.

"My sister has three kids all of whom have magic, but they go to the Salem Academy I Massachusetts so they're not that far from home."

"Well, I never really had any formal training," Natasha explained. "I'm self-taught for the most part but I do have a few friends who were more than happy to get me back on track."

Natasha was surprised how easy it was to talk to Clint's wife. She supposed it was simple because they both had significant others as well as relationships and kids they were hiding from the world.

And speaking of kids….she needed to give Hermione a call. Clint had been nice enough to share this part of his life with her, and obviously trusted her enough to keep this secret, so she couldn't help but feel a little honored.

Natasha dug through the one bag she had managed to save from the plane and cursed when she realized her cellular device wasn't there.

"What's wrong?" Clint asked from the front seat.

"I left my cell phone on the plane, it's probably blown to bits by now."

Clint frowned. "You need to Fury right now?"

"No," Natasha said and prepared to reveal one more secret. "My daughter."

This time Clint turned fully around in the seat. "What?!"

Natasha smirked. "Come on Barton, me having a kid isn't that farfetched is it?"

"Given that you've given me the impression of never being able to settle down and kicking ass till the day you die, yeah I'd say it's a little farfetched."

Natasha sighed and reached into her pocket. She always kept a picture of Hermione on her, but Regulus had taught her how to disguise it so no one but her was able to see it.

She waved her wand over it and muttered the words to reveal it. The air above the picture shimmered and thickened.

Natasha handed the picture to her partner. "This is my daughter. Her name's Hermione and she's eleven years old."

Clint gave a low whistle as he looked at the picture. "She looks just like you. I take it she's away at school too?"

"Yes, she has magic like me, but she goes to boarding school in Scotland."

"It is Hogwarts by any chance?" Laura asked. "It's supposed to be one of the best in Europe."

"It is," Natasha said, a little impressed by the woman's astuteness. "She's there right now. Their years range from eleven to seventeen so she'll be there for the next seven years."

"She's beautiful," Laura said glancing away from the road and the slanting rain to the picture. "And a unique name too. What made you decide on Hermione?"

Natasha smiled, fondly remembering the Barlows and their wise words over a decade earlier. She still thought about them from time to time. She had never regretted keeping Hermione but if things had turned out differently, that would have been where she would have wanted the strawberry blonde to go.

"It was the influence of an old friend," she explained.

Laura nodded and they lapsed into an easy silence. Laura soon turned off the main road onto a muddy gravel one line with trees which they drove down.

After about five minutes, they came in sight of a lovely farm house and as the rain died to a drizzle, Natasha could see a bard in the background along with a silo as well as various types of farm equipment.

"Funny Barton, I kind of expected you to have an underground bunker. Little house on the prairie doesn't really seem to suit you."

The archer smirked. "Well I like unpredictable Nat."

Laura pulled up at driveway just in front of the wrap around porch of the house and Natasha slid the door open and jumped out.

_Well this certainly looks like a safe house._

Laura went to unhook Nathan from his seat and Natasha followed Clint up the stairs of the house to the wrap around porch and inside the house. There was a staircase directly opposite the entryway and an archway led into the kitchen/living room area which was littered with children's books and toys.

After they took off their shoes, Clint led her up the stairs to a small guest room with a bed desk and dresser that was connected to its own bathroom.

"Clean up," he said. "Laura had dinner on before she got us. We can connect with Fury after."

When he had left her alone, Natasha dropped the bag on the bed with an exhausted sigh. Apparating out of a plane and finding out her partner had a wife and a kid was a little much in one day to say the least.

_Shower, first I need a shower…..then I can call Hermione. _

And so after a hot shower, Nat picked up the landline on the bedside table and after punching the area code in, she dialed Hermione's number and hoped that she picked up.

After about five rings, the other line picked up and Natasha breathed a sigh of relief. "Mione?"

"Mum?" Her daughter asked. "Why are you calling me on a public line, you always call from your cell phone."

"Yeah well, there was a bit of an…..incident today involving me and Clint."

"What kind of incident?"

"Well it involves a lightning storm, a car crash, a vengeful son and an emergency plane landing."

"What?!"

"Hold on let me explain."

It took about a half an hour to explain what had happened at the race track in Monaco along with Tony Stark and Ivan Vanko. Then she went into detail about the flight back and how she and Clint were caught in a lightning storm and the plane had to make an emergency landing before she apparated them out and finally how it led to meeting Laura and Nathan as well as letting Clint know about Hermione herself.

Finally when she was done, there was a long silence on the phone.

"Well its about damn time," Hermione said. "So when can I meet him?"

"Don't get ahead of yourself little girl," Natasha said smirking. "We still need to connect with Fury and get back to SHIELD."

"You're okay though right?" Hermione asked and her tone shifted to somewhat worried which warmed the red head.

"I'm fine, you can thank your uncle Reg that he taught me how to apparate otherwise we would have been in a bit more trouble."

"I'll bet."

Hermione kept her news about school very general and the conversation slowed down after that.

Shortly after, both Romanovs rang off and as Natasha put the phone back on the cradle, her brow furrowed into a frown.

Hermione was definitely hiding something.

Ω

"You do realize that if we go in as Hogwarts students they're not going to tell us anything right?" Harry asked quietly that night as they were sitting in the Slytherin common room. "In fact their just as likely to call for the teachers."

"That's why we're going in disguises," Hermione put in and at once Dudley looked intrigued.

"You're talking about the poly juice potion aren't you?" he asked.

"That takes like two weeks to brew and its extremely difficult," Draco protested.

"Not for us it won't," Hermione put in.

Her uncle Regulus always kept a supply on hand when he went into the wizarding world because everyone there thought he was dead. She had taken the liberty of snitching some before they had left for school.

He wouldn't be happy if he found out but she could deal with the consequences later. Regulus had used the hairs he had snitched off of random strangers so they couldn't be traced.

Her uncle was going to be a SHIELD agent in no time.

"Now I know this is madness," Draco muttered.

"So how do we decide who stays and who goes?" Dudley asked.

"Well Harry should go since its his cloak," Hermione put in. "And I think Luna should go too."

"Lovegood?" Draco asked. "Why her?"

"Because she has a unique ability to tell when someone's lying," Hermione said.

"Well if that's the case, than you should go too Mione," Harry said. "You can pretty much do the same thing and let's face it, you can be pretty intimidating when you want to be."

"Why thank you."

"I guess the rest of us can just run interference on the teachers if they ask where we are." Dudley suggested and the rest of them nodded.

"What exactly are you guys going to ask when you get there?" Draco asked. "I mean you're going to need a plan going in."

"Well the first person we would need to go to would be the bartender," Hermione put in. "He sees everyone in the place and he would remember Hagrid if he's there that often."

The strawberry blonde didn't really want to get into the core cause of why she wanted to find out what was going on in her school because every time she had gone to stake out the third floor corridor, she had heard that voice again. That whispery evil voice that it seemed that only she and Luna could hear. It was cold and soft as snow.

Hermione had this feeling deep inside of her that it was Asgardian or something even beyond this world in origin and though she hadn't told any of her friends about her suspicions, she had a feeling that Harry and Dudley could tell that something was bothering her.

They had grown up together, it would be remiss if they didn't notice something.

If she had just noticed the monster in the school, she would have been curious but it would have been something that somewhat easier to overlook. But that voice…..that evil voice was something that was impossible to ignore because it shouldn't have been there….it shouldn't have been in her school.

Something had to be done.

"What time do you guys think you're going to go?" Dudley asked.

"I think after curfew. That way everyone else will think we're in bed and we'll have an alibi on our side," Hermione explained.

"Just don't get yourselves expelled," Draco muttered. "Merlin I can't believe I even thought of joining this group."

"Too late to change now mate," Dudley said grinning. "You're stuck with us."

"I'll let you know when it's go time," Hermione said, feeling a little bit like her mother in that moment. "Then we'll suit up."

Ω

Silent as a fairy, the little blonde slipped out of the tower and darted down the hallways away from the Ravenclaw common room. She didn't do this very often, but he had asked to meet her and because she hadn't seen him in a while, she wasn't about to refuse him.

He had taught her magic before she had ever gotten her wand so she wasn't afraid of anyone seeing her. Her mother Pandora was part fairy so she knew how to move without being seen.

Luna skipped down the stairs and humming softly to herself, made her way to the doors of the school before slipping out and running across the grounds, past the Black Lake and down past Hagrid's cottage to the Forbidden Forest.

He hadn't been able to meet her as much lately but she knew he was busy. Her last birthday he had given her a bracelet made out of moon stones that would conceal her from unfriendly eyes, and cast a shadow over her so no one would see her.

She found him just inside the trees of the Forbidden Forest. He was sitting on a log and even though he was seated he still cast a tall shadow.

Luna crept up to him slowly but before she got a few feet away, he turned around.

Upon seeing her, he smiled.

Luna smiled too. "Hello Daddy, it's been a while."

Loki's smile grew even wider. "I know my little moon and I am sorry for the delay. Things on Asgard have been….tense to say the least."

Ω

**Ahem...well...neither of you were expecting that now were you? Luna's origins will be dealt with in depth more in the next chapter and we'll see how she's evolved as the daughter of Loki. Natasha's going to finally meet Tony in the next chapter and we will begin ramping up Iron Man 2. I think I'm going to have five or six chapters for each year to start and there will be progressively more as the years get more and more in depth. I'm already thinking this story is going to have at least 100 chapters so get ready. Don't forget to review and enjoy!**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27

Natasha spent two days with Clint and his family. It was the most relaxing two days she had spent with anyone outside of when Thor came to visit. It was peaceful, she didn't have to be constantly watching her back and Nathan was a joy to watch. He was still learning to walk and talk and so he toddled all over the room and tried to grab everything within reach.

He also seemed to have taken a liking to her and was always trying to make a grab for her long red hair which she had grown out again after years of having it dark brown. He reminded her a lot of when Hermione had been a baby. He was absolutely fearless and nothing seem to startle or surprise him.

More than once the red head could imagine her own daughter playing with the little boy and it caused a smile to rise to her face. Maybe sometime soon after this Stark business was all over and Mione was done with school for the year, she could bring her daughter out here to meet Clint and Laura and Nathan.

A sort of family vacation.

Never mind that since the disastrous beach incident when she was four Natasha had never gone away for longer than a week but she highly doubted that on Ma and Pa Kent's farm there would be any sort of trouble.

It was actually a beautiful place where she didn't have to think and that was sort of nice to do for a few days. Surprisingly Clint even kept a few horses on the farm, though Laura was more in charge of taking care of them since he was home so little.

During the two days that she was there, Natasha actually learned a few of the ins and outs of riding from his wife which was actually rather pleasant.

She saw a whole other side to Clint in those two days that thoroughly shocked her because she learned she wasn't keeping as massive a secret as she thought and that there were other people in the world who had as much to lose with the spilling of secrets as she did.

Although the Thor secret wasn't really hers to tell and there was no way she would be spilling that one any time soon…..not even to her partner.

On the third day they finally connected with Fury who was pissed off in no uncertain terms about Stark's narcissistic personality and lack of subtlety when it came to the race track and what had happened with Ivan Vanko.

"If you two have finished playing little house on the prairie, you get your asses back to Washington for a debriefing on what this Russian bastard wants!" he barked.

"Yes sir," Clint said after raising an eyebrow at Nat.

"It's a good thing I don't have any hair left because this bastard with too much money would make me lose it in all of one hour with him," he muttered and then barked out again. "Romanov!"

"Yes sir?" Natasha asked, glad that he couldn't see her and Clint's reactions.

"The week after you get back, I want you close to Stark. I want to know his habits, what he eats what he wears who he talks to. I want to know everything down to the time the man takes a shit. Do you understand?"

Natasha chewed on her lip slightly and smirked at his language. "Yes sir."

"Good, now no more talking. You two get your asses back to D.C. At nine hundred hours tomorrow I want you in my office."

Without even saying goodbye, the line went dead and the two agents looked at each other over the phone.

"Is it just me or was he in a better mood than usual?" Clint asked.

Ω

On the night that she Harry and Luna were to sneak out of the castle, every single one of their friends were a bundle of nervous energy except for Hermione herself. Malfoy was being snarkier than usual, Dudley reverted back to chewing on his fingernails, a habit he hadn't undertaken since he was seven about to go to his first karate class. Susan was so quiet you would have thought she was a shadow and Neville was finding any excuse he could to talk about plants because it calmed him.

Luna didn't seem to be any different and neither did Harry although he did spend an inordinate amount of time with his invisibility cloak as if he were concerned that too much non-use would make it lose its invisibility.

Hermione and Luna had been spending a lot of time together and for some reason lately almost all of what she had been saying made sense. It was almost as if she were dropping the strawberry blonde clues to something….something big and Hermione was putting the pieces together.

She had learned that Luna's father Xenophilius had died before she was born, but she had also seen pictures of the Lovegood family and the patriarch had had black hair.

Ever since Luna had wrought that surprising peace of magic during the bathroom when the fight with the troll had been going on, Hermione had been doing a little research into her family background.

The Lovegoods were a pureblood family that was only three hundred years old so still relatively new, but almost all of them had had black hair until Xenophilius married Pandora who was a beautiful blonde with strange origins. Some whispered that she was a fairy, others that she was a Seer.

Whatever the case though, it was a little odd that Luna had inherited her mother's looks when it was her father's physicality that should have been the dominate gene. She was also very aware, of others and herself so that made it very hard to put anything past her.

All in all, she was someone that Hermione would like to have by her side and quickly taking a place alongside Harry and Dudley as her best friend.

It amazed Hermione just how dependable her other friends were becoming as well though, especially Draco. She would have expected nothing less from Susan and Neville, but the blonde did have a loyal streak in his body and not only because they were fellow Slytherins. Even Ron and he had stopped making snide remarks to each other and had volunteered to be lookouts when the three of them made the journey to Hogsmeade on their covert assignment.

The only thing that bothered Hermione was the fact that while Harry's invisibility cloak would serve as adequate means to cover them, she didn't know what would happen if they got lost. She didn't know of a definite way to get to Hogsmeade and back that would ensure no one would notice they were gone.

Interestingly enough it was Neville that came up with the solution to that problem.

He had hurried up to the Slytherin table during dinner where the rest of them were seated a couple hours before they were supposed to leave and he looked fit to burst.

"What is it Nev?" Dudley asked quietly when the Gryffindor had sat down. "You look like you're about to explode."

"I figured it out," the slightly chubby boy said urgently. "I know a direct way to get to Hogsmeade there and back and the best part is, you won't even have to use Harry's cloak for part of the way."

"How on earth did you manage to figure that out Longbottom?" Draco asked and Hermione resisted the urge to roll her eyes. He still insisted upon referring to them all by their last names, even her as if it gave him some type of distance from them that was necessary in Slytherin house.

All nonsense if you asked her, but she decided she would play along for now until it got really annoying.

"I was collecting some samples for my herbology project an hour ago," Neville explained. "That's why I was late for dinner. Apparently I had gotten too close to the Whomping Willow and that tree is…..territorial."

He shivered slightly. "Anyway, it swung one of its branches at me and I just managed to duck under it, but when I did I rolled towards the trunk of the tree and I happened to hit it pretty hard."

"Are you alright?" Susan asked.

"I'm fine, but when I made to get up, I moved my arm and accidentally hit a knot on the tree and I heard a creaking sound. When I looked down, I saw there was a secret trap door in the trunk of the tree. Without even thinking because I was so scared I slid down into it and found myself in a room. There was a tunnel connected to it and after taking a moment, I followed the tunnel and found out it led all the way to Hogsmeade. I ran all the way back, managed to avoid the tree again and here I am."

It was the most Hermione had ever heard Neville say and he seemed to realize it too for he looked down bashfully and his cheeks turned red.

"Well done mate," Ron said clapping him on the back. "That will make it easier for Harry Mione and Luna to get to Hogsmeade."

"Excellent deduction Weasley," Draco drawled. "But what exactly are you going to ask the bartender when you get to Hogsmeade? I assume it's going to be him you're going to first right?"

"It's very simple," Hermione said sarcastically. "While you all were running around at the library and falling through tree roots, Harry, Luna and Dudley managed to find out that Hagrid frequents the Hogsmeade bar every Wednesday evening after curfew. We should be able to see who he's meeting with, find out his patterns and hopefully get more information on this animal he's put in the room and maybe what it's guarding."

"How the bloody hell did you manage to get all that from him?" Ron demanded.

"Hagrid doesn't really know what the word subtle is Ron," Susan explained. "He's a perfectly likeable fellow but just a few basilisk eggs short of a nest."

"I suppose that's true," the red head said appraisingly.

"I do hope there won't be too many Nargles in attendance tonight," Luna said dreamily. "They would be terrible for a scouting mission. My daddy always told me that being stealthy is the best way to get your enemies to second guess you."

Because everyone was used to Luna saying odd things, she was largely ignored by everyone except Hermione who frowned. Not only because it sounded distinctly like something her mother would say but also because Luna's father was supposed to be dead.

"I didn't think your father was with us Luna," she said to the blonde quietly.

Luna smiled happily. "Oh don't worry Hermione he is. He talks to me all the time. In fact he's the one who gave me this bracelet."

She held up the strange adornment. "He said it would hide me from people who wanted to hurt me. I can use it to help us get to Hogsmeade."

Hermione looked closely at the bracelet and was astonished to see that it was made from moonstones. They were a very pale blue moonrock that was….you guessed it…..only found on the moon. The chances of someone from this planet having a bracelet like that were second to none.

"How…..how did your father get this Luna?" she asked in a hushed voice.

"Oh he's not from this world Mione," the blonde explained happily. "When he comes back though I would be happy to introduce you to him."

"I think I'd like that," Hermione said faintly.

It wasn't possible. Could it be that Luna's father hadn't been Xenophilius at all but someone from Asgard or another of the Nine Realms? It was the only circumstance that made sense. He couldn't have been human which explained her strange icy powers.

Was it possible that Luna's father was a Jotun?

That would certainly explain the ice factor and all.

Hermione was so busy thinking she wasn't aware that all of her friends were staring at her.

"What?" she asked tuning back into the conversation.

Draco raised an eyebrow. "For someone as smart as you Granger, you would think you would have learned to pay a little more attention."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever, what's going on?"

"We need to leave in like ten minutes Mione," Harry said slowly. "Are you coming or what?"

"Right! Of course."

In order to avoid suspicion, they all got up and went back to their separate common rooms, Ron and Neville to Gryffindor, Susan to Hufflepuff and Luna followed the rest of them down to the Slytherin common room.

She used her moonstone bracelet to make people unaware of her presence and if Harry and Dudley and Draco noticed, they didn't say a thing.

Luna and Hermione waited at the entrance to the Slytherin boys dorms while the three others hurried down to their shared dorm to get Harry's cloak.

"Your father," Hermione began hesitantly. "How often do you see him Luna?"

"Oh every once in a while," the blonde said cheerily. "The Nargles are always terrified of him. I just have to watch them fleeing and then I can find him. He always tells me that my eyes are the only thing I got from him because my Mum's are green."

"So are my mum's," Hermione said chuckling.

"We make a good duo," Luna said. "After all, we're just like our daddies."

Hermione didn't even know what to make of _that._

Luckily, Harry Dudley and Draco came back that instant, or rather just Draco because Harry and Dudley were disguised under the cloak.

"And for Merlin's sake be careful," Draco muttered as he showed the three of them out, Dudley nodding in agreement. "The last thing you want is to get all us expelled for this nonsense."

"Sure because that's really what we should be focusing on right now," Dudley muttered as the portrait hole closed.

"Everybody ready?" Harry whispered from beneath the cloak and Hermione and Luna nodded. "Lead on Harry."

They hurried for the doors of the school.

Ω

Nine hundred hours found Clint and Natasha in Fury's office giving him a full run down of what had happened in Monaco. It was interjected every so often with Fury's muttered curses, but generally the office was quiet.

"Stark has been a pain in my ass even before he revealed he was the one in that flying tank," he muttered to himself as he paced the floor. "He's narcissistic, egotistical and far too paranoid for his own good. I guess that's the one thing he got from Howard."

Clint and Natasha exchanged glances.

Rumor had it that Fury had been just a field agent at SHIELD when Howard Stark was still alive but the two had known each other none the less and rumor had it that Howard had been one of the most paranoid people when sharing his military secrets.

"What are your orders sir?" Natasha asked while the director was still pacing.

"Romanov," he barked whirling around to face her. "Tomorrow you will be joining Stark's legal team as Natalie Rushman, you will serve as the private liaison between him Pepper Potts and the legal team itself.

"Barton! You will be in charge of the surveillance between ourselves and Stark Industries. Step it up, I want to know everything that's going on in there."

"Yes sir."

"Dismissed!"

And so, the very next morning found Natasha dressed in a white blouse, slacks and heels as she headed to Stark Industries with some legal paperwork for Tony Stark and Pepper Potts to sign.

While Stark may have been a handful, Natasha had to hand it to Pepper. She was his CEO and one hard ass bitch if she did say so herself. Nothing ever got done in that place without her and Stark was too irresponsible to be in control of running his own company. He had just enough self-control to be making his own designs rather than actually putting them to a board and going into meetings.

And meeting with potential buyers?

Ha!

He was also a womanizing so and so but Potts had been keeping him on a tight leash in that area. The two had an almost dysfunctional relationship, but it wasn't a romantic one. They were more like brother and sister than anything else and shared that sort of platonic bond.

As she walked down the street to Stark Tower, her heels clicking on the sidewalk, Natasha thought about Hermione and Thor. Hermione had seemed fine, but her tone was curiously subdued as if she were being careful not to say too much as well as distracted, as if she had a lot on her mind.

Natasha wondered what was going on there. She trusted her daughter, but she also knew that Hermione had a penchant for mischief, much as she tried to deny it. With Harry and Dudley and the rest of her friends at her side…..well that was a recipe for disaster if she did say so herself.

And as for Thor…

Ever since Christmas, he had been quiet as well. He had only been able to sneak away for a few hours to see them, and Hermione had been so sleepy she had managed to only stay up and talk to him for thirty minutes before she sacked out and went to bed.

She and Thor had stayed up till three a.m. just talking quietly about themselves and the future.

It was an unspoken agreement that they were pretty much married at this point. Natasha had no plans to see anyone else and she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that Thor didn't either.

She wondered as she walked along for the umpteenth time how much different things would have been if Thor was a normal man with a normal job and he could come home every day so the three of them could spend time together.

_Get real Romanov….if he had been a normal man there is no way you would have ever been together. _

The red head had to concede her own point. She did have a taste for the dangerous men after all. Maybe it was because she could keep up with them and they presented a challenge to her was what it was. She needed someone who was her physical and intellectual equal which were both qualities that manifested in Thor.

Whatever the case, this was the way things were and as complicated as it was, she had no desire to change it.

When she reached the door of Stark Towers she was greeted by a doorman who she was sure was also a trained body guard. He examined the tag she showed to him which identified her as part of Stark's legal staff.

After a long minute, he waved her through and she stepped through the doors into the cool quiet. It reminded her a bit of a hotel lobby. There was a desk at the end of the lobby with a secretary behind it and elevator doors in gleaming gold colors just behind that.

At the desk, Natasha presented her tag to the secretary who examined it much quicker than the guard outside did and waved her toward the elevator doors.

Natasha wasn't stupid enough to think that that was his only form of security. She was acutely aware of all the cameras in the lobby and that there would be people watching her from every level she went past on the elevator.

She suppressed a smirk. Even if she wanted to take out Stark, there was no way they would get to her before they realized what she was doing.

She boarded the elevator and shut the doors, files gripped in her hands eyes drifting towards the ceiling where she knew were where the cameras were embedded.

It took a few minutes to reach the top as there were so many floors, but the moment the elevator reached the twenty first floor, a blank expression dropped down on the red head's face.

Show time.

With a ding, the elevator doors slid open and opened up to a long hallway lined with mirrors and windows. There was a room ahead where Natasha could hear loud talking and the sounds of a mock fight happening.

She had learned from Fury that Stark liked to box in his spare time and often used his personal driver Happy Hogan as a sparring partner.

_Sounds more like antics of the Three Stooges minus one to me, _she thought.

Sure enough, as she came through the doorway, Natasha found herself standing on the top wooden step of a large room that was clearly used for workout purposes.

There was a large boxing ring in the center of the room where two grown men were clearly using it to ill effect. The room opened out onto a view of a Malibu beach. It was open with a gentle breeze coming through as well as the smell of salt water.

Natasha was faintly reminded of that evening eleven years earlier when she and Thor had occupied a house on a similar coastline.

She was hard pressed not to smirk when she remembered it.

There was a woman standing by two white leather chairs examining something on a clip board. She was a lighter shade of blonde than Hermione whose locks were more of a copper tone in comparison to her mother's scarlet and she was attired in a crisp business suit.

The men on the other hand were dressed in workout gear and both had boxing gloves on. One had the hood of his sweater pulled over his head and the other was dressed in shorts and had a boxing mask heavily padded on his face.

They appeared to be sparring….well that and trading insults as well. Natasha could clearly see that the one who was wearing the padded helmet was not Stark which made him the driver. Stark was the one in the hoodie.

Natasha stopped in the doorway of the room and she saw Hogan straighten up at the sight of her. At his lapse in motion, Stark turned around and did the same thing. He coughed slightly on the drink he had taken from his bottle.

Natasha eyed the two of them carefully. Altogether they looked like a couple of hambones who had no idea what to do in a boxing ring.

It would be amusing if it weren't so out of their league.

After assessing the situation for a moment, Natasha stepped down into the room and walked over to Pepper Potts who greeted her with a smile because she had been expecting her.

"Good afternoon Miss Potts," Natasha said calmly. She opened the file folder she was holding and presented it to the CEO. "I just need you to initial here, here and here."

Pepper gave a brisk nod and turned to Tony and Happy who were still eying them. "I promise this will be the only time I make you sign away control of your company."

Natasha kept one eye on Pepper signing the documents and one eye on Tony who was still eyeing her curiously. Happy took the moment of distraction to bop Tony on the head from behind.

"Lesson one," he said when Tony whirled around. "Never take your eye off your opponent."

_He must use that expression a lot. _

Tony didn't answer, but rather raised a leg and nailed Happy in the chest sending him flying across the ring and into one of the corners on the opposite side.

Natasha glanced back down again, still aware of the fact that Tony had turned back to her.

"What's your name lady?" he asked.

She suppressed an eye roll. "Rushman, Natalie Rushman."

He pointed to the mat in front of him. "Front and center. Come into the church."

Pepper gave him a look "No you're seriously not going to ask her to – "

"If it pleases the court," he said, looking at Pepper as if to say, _would you let me do this one thing?_

Natasha shrugged and decided to indulge him before striding for the mat. "It's no problem."

"I'm sorry," Pepper said apologetically, "he's very eccentric."

Tony held up the rubber ropes so Natasha could get inside and she bent under them gracefully before straitening up and giving him the once over.

Physically he wasn't anything special. He was reasonably attractive and charming enough to the public but he was also a heavily self-indulgent narcissist. Confidence was his drug and he appeared to be sucking it back now even as much as he was sipping on his energy drink.

Natasha had no trouble holding his gaze and she had a feeling that he was testing her in his own eccentric way.

Finally he put the bottle down and wiped his mouth. "Happy would you mind giving her a lesson?"

_Really? He wants to play that game now?_

"No problem," Happy said striding over, always eager to help….in this case a little too eager.

Tony stepped out of the ring and strode over to Pepper who was sitting down reviewing the files as Natasha turned to Happy. He looked for all the world like an eager puppy.

Tony plopped down in the chair next to Pepper. "Who is she?"

Pepper sighed as if she were trying to pacify a child. "She is from legal. And she is potentially a very expensive….sexual harassment law suit if you keep ogling her like that."

"She'd be my assistant," Tony pointed out.

"Yes, and I have three excellent candidates right now, lined up and waiting to meet you."

"I don't have time to meet anyone," Tony said. "I feel like it's her."

"No it's not."

Meanwhile back in the ring, Happy was gesturing for Natasha to come closer. "You ever box before?"

Natasha opened her mouth to answer but what interrupted by Tony. "How do you spell your name Natalie?"

She turned to him. "R, U, S, H, M, A, N."

"Are you googling her now?" Pepper demanded.

"I thought I was ogling her," Tony said absently as he typed Natasha's "name" into the search engine and a host of results came up.

"Oh wow," he said. "Very, impressive individual. She's fluent in French, Italian, Russian, Latin. Who speaks Latin?"

"No one speaks Latin," Pepper explained. "It's a dead language. You can read Latin or you can write Latin but you can't speak Latin – "

"Did you model in Tokyo?" Tony interrupted enlarging a picture he had found. "Because she modeled in Tokyo."

"No."

"I knew it," Tony said sounding convinced. "She's got everything that I need."

That last line was heard by Natasha who had turned to glance at them and was trying hard not to smirk.

However she was still plenty aware of Happy and what he did next.

"Rule number 1," he said reaching out with his glove towards her shoulder as if to tap her. "Never take your eye off the – "

Just as he brought his fist out, Natasha whirled around with incredible fluid grace, seized his arm, twisted it sideways. He buckled slightly in pain and she brought his arm lower, flipped upside down and locked her legs about his neck before yanking him to the mat with a crash.

"Oh my god!" Pepper shrieked and Tony lurched to his feet.

Happy was knocking against the mat indicating that she had won and that he couldn't breathe.

Natasha allowed herself one small solitary smirk before she released him and shot to her feet once more.

"That's what I'm talking about," Tony said as he walked back toward the ring.

"I just slipped," Happy said as he got unsteadily to his feet.

"You did?" Tony questioned. He rang the bell at the side of the ring. "Looks like a TKO to me."

Natasha stepped smoothly from the ring and came level with the Stark scion.

"I need your impression," she said.

"You have quite a reserve," he said clearly not understanding her. "I can tell you have an old soul – "

"I meant your fingerprint," she said giving him a small smile. Stark was very easy to read.

"Right," he said.

She opened the other file she had left at the side of the ring and presented it to him.

After he had placed his fingerprint in three places on the page, Pepper strode over to them, keeping more of an eye on Tony than she was on Nat. "So how are we doing?"

"Great," Tony said as if he were annoyed at her for interrupting.

Natasha snapped the folder closed and took the one Pepper handed her which she had signed earlier. "Will that be all Mr. Stark?"

"No."

"Yes," Pepper said a little forcefully. "That will be all. Thank you very much Miss Rushman."

Natasha gave them a sharp nod and strode toward the door after putting her heels back on.

Just as she left the doorway, she physically heard Tony turn to Pepper.

"I want one."

"No."

Natasha smirked as she strode back down to the elevator. That had been easier than she had thought. She could only wonder what Thor might say when she would tell him what had happened.

He might not be pleased.

Ω

It turned out that getting past the Whomping Willow and into the room underneath the tree was the easiest part of the whole crazy adventure.

Harry, Hermione and Luna had just climbed out of the tunnel beneath the ground and were now standing on the edge of Hogsmeade looking about the quiet town.

"I have to admit, I didn't expect it to be this…..small," Harry said as he looked around and privately Hermione agreed.

It kind of reminded her of this village in eighteenth century London with the way there were cobblestoned streets as well as inns and old pubs as well as a bookstore and candy shop that looked like it was quite modern for the place it was situated in.

Hermione imagined if one saw an aerial view of Hogsmeade it would look like a number sign. The village was one long street with two long streets parallel to each other with some distance of houses between them.

They would get to go on visits here when they were in their third year and Hermione was mildly interesting in seeing more of it.

"Well at least there aren't any Nargles here," Luna whispered cheerily. "That will make it easier to find what we're looking for."

"I'll say," Hermione muttered. "Let's get to the Hog's Head. It's Wednesday night. Hagrid should be due there."

Instead of disguising themselves the three of them had come up with a unique idea. Luna was very _very _good at concealing her identity, something she had privately told Hermione that her father had taught her. And because both Hermione and Harry had parents in law enforcement where concealing identities were key they had learned a few things as well.

The most important thing however was that when they had been home for Christmas Hermione and Harry had snitched one of Regulus's potions that were key for concealing identities.

It wasn't like Polyjuice potion where they would take on the identity of someone they had a hair from, but it would make them completely invisible even if Harry didn't have his invisibility cloak.

After a lot of discussion between the group of friends, they had decided it wouldn't do to draw attention to themselves by taking the potion and having people see them. Harry had brought it along just in case of emergencies in case their spells failed but they had decided it wouldn't be Plan A.

The three of them moved off down the street toward the hulking silhouette of a building with a sign swinging out front that had the wooden carving of an enormous pig on it.

A telltale sign if there ever was one.

When they had reached about twenty feet from the doors of the pub, they ducked down the alley from the place and Harry turned to his friends.

"Okay from this point on, no one talks," he said. "And if we see Hagrid in there we need to get as close to him and whoever he's with as possible. If there's firewhiskey involved, he's liable to say something that he shouldn't. We've all seen him when he's had a little too much to drink so there might be clues he would drop."

Luna nodded. "And we can't stay for too long. The Nargles back at the castle might notice that we're missing and come after us. I know Dudley, Draco and Susan and Neville will do their best to make sure they don't find out but we can't waste time."

"Exactly," Hermione said ignoring the Nargle part. "We get in, we get the information from Hagrid and we get the bloody hell out as Ron would say."

Plans made, the three eleven year olds waited for there to be a break in the people heading for the door of the pub and then made a beeline for the doors themselves.

One of the first things the three of them noticed was the dim lighting, the thick pipe smoke, the murmur of voices was the amount of hooded heads in the room and low gravelly voices that could be heard.

The eleven year olds bundled into a corner of the bar and proceeded to watch the patrons.

"We don't make a move until Hagrid comes in," Harry whispered. "It's too dangerous to go traipsing about the bar and letting someone hear us."

Fortunately, it appeared that they did not have to wait very long for about five minutes into their waiting period the doors opened and the enormous form of the half giant could be seen marching through the door.

Harry, Luna and Hermione all exchanged a look and waited until the gameskeeper pulled up a chair at a table close to the bar and sat down, appearing to be waiting for someone.

"We need to get closer," Hermione whispered. "Otherwise when his guest gets here we'll never be able to hear what they are saying.

"Maybe we should go one at a time then," Luna suggested. "Or else only one of us should go. My moonstone bracelet doesn't allow anyone to see me because it wraps shadows around me. I'll go and hear what Hagrid will say to his guest and then I'll come back. You two wait here."

"Are you sure Luna?" Harry asked. "You won't get caught?"

"Don't be silly Harry. I'm smarter than the Nargles are, they won't see hide nor hair of me."

The words had no sooner left her mouth when the door to the Hogs Head opened and a stranger clad in all black robes and a cloak came into the establishment. The robes he was wearing were so long that they brushed the floor and made it appear he was floating like smoke over the ground.

He made his way between the tables and sat down with uncommon grace in front of Hagrid who lit up when he saw him.

"Show time," Luna whispered. She slid her bracelet back on her wrist and turned the center most stone counter clockwise.

All of a sudden, both Harry and Hermione blinked when they saw she had completely vanished. There was a movement by the edge of the invisibility cloak and then the garment was still.

"Can you see her?" Harry asked.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Of course not Harry, no one can! The moonstones bend shadows around whoever wears them. It's far more effective than your cloak or a disillusionment spell because it makes you disappear completely from all types of light."

"Well I guess we have nothing to do but wait then."

Harry was quiet for a moment. "Do you think Dad will be able to get into SHIELD along with Aunt Tasha?"

"Of course," Hermione replied. "It'll take some work of course, but Mum's been telling me that he's come quite a long way with a gun and apparently he's been impressing granddad when they go out on assignment."

"I know, Dad's also been telling me in his letter's that he's been up to using a bit of magic to aid in his performance when he's out on the job. I think it's great that both magical and Muggle means can work so well together."

"Yes it is isn't it?"

"Hermione?"

"Yes?"

"What do you think is hiding in the third floor corridor and why is it that you and Luna seem to be the only ones who can hear it?"

"Trust me Harry, if I knew the answer to that question I would have told you right away."

Hermione glanced back over to the table where Hagrid and the stranger appeared to be playing a game of cards. For a moment, the strawberry blonde thought she saw a sliver of silvery movement by Hagrid's right arm and knew right away that Luna was keeping an eye on the situation.

"Has Aunt Tuney picked out names for the baby yet?" she asked Harry absently.

"Dad says that the doctor says it's a girl," Harry said looking pleased. "Mum's already begun looking through names, but I think she likes the name Rosalyn."

"Really? Why that one in particular?"

"It's just to go along with the flower theme," Harry explained. "Mum's muggle grandparents had a peculiar habit of naming all the girls they had after flowers."

"Well just don't name her some long like Hyacinth," Hermione said chuckling. "Merlin that would be a mouthful to write on tests."

"We could just called her Cinthy for short," Harry suggested. "By the way, has Aunt Tasha told you more about what work she's going to be doing for Tony Stark?"

Hermione shrugged. "All I know is that the Director has done something that will hopefully make her Stark's personal assistant. She was supposed to go by Stark Tower and get some paperwork signed today."

They fell silent again, watching the two men in the corner of the bar silently placing cards on the table and sipping from their mugs of ale.

Hermione observed with some interest that though Hagrid was a little dim, he appeared to be a card shark if the way he was pulling the cards toward himself was any indication.

"I wonder what they're playing for," Harry mused as he watched them. "It certainly seems to be a high stakes game."

"Given the way Hagrid is sweating I would certainly think so," Hermione said smirking.

They watched for another ten minutes or so until it suddenly seemed that the game had been brought to a close.

All of a sudden, the stranger brought forth from under the table an oblong shaped package with an odd black ribbon tied around it. He pushed it across the table and presented it to Hagrid who lit up like a Christmas tree.

Suddenly, the two of them sensed the movement of the cloak and with a flash, Luna appeared once more.

Harry gave a peculiar gasp and though Hermione flinched slightly she said nothing. "Well? What did you find out?"

"We need to get out of here," Luna said breathlessly. "The Nargles didn't see me, but just in case. I'll tell you everything once we're in the passage."

Not having the time to ask any more questions, the trio hurriedly made for the door.

Ω

"A dragon egg?" Draco asked the following day. "Are you certain?"

The group of friends was sitting out by the lake where they wouldn't be overheard talking about the goings on of the night before. Though it was cold, it was the only place they wouldn't be overheard and Luna and Susan, who had discovered an aptitude for warming charms had cast a mild one to take the wind off.

"That's what they were playing for," Luna explained. "I also found out that this was the same stranger he had bought the Cerberus from. It also appears that whenever Hagrid has too much to drink like we saw last night that it loosens his lips. He also let something slip that he hadn't won the Cerberus just for Professor Dumbledore, but also for a friend of his who had some sort of possession that needs guarding."

The group of first years exchanged glances.

"Professor Dumbledore must have a million friends," Ron speculated. "He's on the ICW he's head of the Wizengamot and chief Warlock he's also the headmaster here. He must have a lot of friends who have strange and valuable possessions. That doesn't really narrow it down."

"No," Susan put in, "but it does let us focus on something else rather than why the Cerberus was bought. We should research that next."

"My mummy says that a Cerberus is such a dangerous creature that someone would only have it if they're guarding something that has the potential to give life or to take it," Luna mused and Hermione blinked.

"That might help us narrow it down," she said. "If it's something or Merlin forbid someone who has the ability to end a life or give it than there should only be a few objects in the magical world that do that, we should focus on researching those too."

Hermione glanced down at her timetable and cursed. "We need to get to class. Defense is stating in like five minutes."

Harry grimaced and Dudley hoisted his bag over his shoulder. "Let's get going then, we'll see you guys at dinner."

He, Hermione, Dudley, Draco, Neville and Ron took off through the snow leaving Susan and Luna behind. There was silence among the six of them as they hurried back into the castle and up the many staircases to the defence room.

Hermione would only admit it to her friends, but Defence had really disappointed her this year. She had expected a teacher who knew his stuff but Professor Quirrel seemed afraid of his own shadow. He stuttered with regards to everything and Hermione was convinced that he had done none of the things he had said he had done. He reeked of garlic and she wasn't sure but there were times when Hermione had been sure she had heard him whispering to himself about strange things when he had thought no one was listening.

_Oh well, if he's that bad, maybe I should ask Susan to talk to her aunt. There has got to be a more qualified defense teacher somewhere in the Ministry. I wonder what possessed the headmaster to hire this nut job in the first place._

Something about Quirrel gave her an uneasy feeling, and she didn't know why. He had these odd sort of unfocused black eyes but when she looked at him carefully, they seemed to focus on someone or something that he himself was saying and he appeared almost…..menacing.

Ron told her it was because of all the things he had seen before becoming a teacher and obviously things like that might make a person jaded but Hermione wasn't so sure. There just seemed to be a sinister connotation to everything that he said.

With those thoughts in the forefront of her mind, Hermione hurried into class and found a seat in the front of the room along with her other five friends.

Parkinson sneered at her, but Hermione ignored it. Everything Parkinson had said during the opening feast was all hot air because the bravest thing she had done was make snide comments whenever Hermione was around which were absurd and somewhat laughable.

Draco himself had said he had known Pansy all her life and she had always been this boorish, trumped up self-entitled girl because of what she deemed to be pureblood. In truth, there were only around two dozen families left in the magical society of Britain that were deemed as pureblood.

The strawberry blonde opened her notes just as Professor Quirrel came in wearing his ludicrous turban and began to stammer his way through a lesson. She took down her notes but as the lesson went on, Hermione began to notice something a little odd.

Professor Quirrel for the most part kept his back to the class, and made full use of the black board for writing down notes, but Hermione began to notice as he walked back and forth in front of the black board was that he had somehow developed a limp that he hadn't had when she had last been in class.

It wasn't entirely noticeable but when compared to his normal gait, Hermione wondered how on earth he managed to get it.

Class was painfully long, almost to the point where Hermione didn't notice when it ended and Draco had to elbow her to let her know that the session had ended.

"It's dinner time Granger," he whispered. "Are you coming or what?"

Hermione blinked and got up to gather her books. "Yeah I'll be right there, you guys go ahead, there's just something I want to ask Professor Quirrel."

Dudley gave her an odd look, but he nodded. "We'll save you a seat."

Hermione waited until all the students had filed out of the room before she put her bag back down on her chair and cleared her throat to get the teacher's attention who was erasing the black board.

"M-M-Miss G-Granger," he stammered when he turned around and saw that she was still there. "D-Don't you n-need to g-get to d-dinner?"

Hermione rubbed the side of her temples absently. It would give her a headache talking like that all the time. "I'm going to leave in a moment professor, I just wanted to ask you something first."

"W-W-What is i-it?"

Hermione folded her hands together and sat back down in her chair. "You tell us a lot about the creatures that you fight….were there ever any that you thought you couldn't face?"

"O-Oh all the t-time Miss G-Granger," the professor stammered. "B-But you m-must remember that…that I-I have b-been trained t-to face such c-creatures."

"And I have all confidence that you have the ability to do that," Hermione said somewhat sarcastically. "But what I want to know is are there some creatures who have the ability to face more than one person at once?"

"I-I'm afraid I d-don't u-understand w-what you m-mean M-Miss Granger."

Hermione sighed. "Were there ever creatures for example like the Hydra in Greek mythology that had more than one head and were very difficult to destroy that you had to face before? And if so…..how did you do it?'

It was a bit of a rhetorical question because she was sure that her professor had never faced something like that before and also because she wanted to know if there ever was a need to get into the third floor corridor and past the Cerberus, how to do that.

Quirrel looked at her for a long time and she was somewhat unnerved to see that his erratic eyes had stopped their zoom movement and were simply honing in on her and what she had said.

"Is there a specific reason you asked that question Miss Granger?" he asked.

It wouldn't occur to her until later that his stutter had vanished.

"I'm just curious," Hermione asked. "These seem to be the sort of questions that someone would ask a Defence teacher. Have you ever fought something like that before?"

Quirrel's eyes appeared to get even blacker and Hermione saw an odd shine to them that she hadn't noticed before.

"No Miss Granger," he said. "But I can promise I will tell you about one when and if I do."

The smell of garlic seemed to grow even stronger and Hermione decided it was time to take her leave before she got a headache.

"Thank you professor," she said as she put her books back in her bag and got to her feet to make for the door. "I'll be sure to ask you again if the situation becomes more important."

She was just about to step over the threshold of the classroom when Quirrel spoke again.

"Oh and Miss Granger?"

She turned back. "Yes professor?"

He appeared curiously steady now, as if a large hand had taken hold of both his limp and his tongue and stopped them from shaking.

"Should you ever discover a way for fighting such a creature," he said and then the timbre of his voice took a drop into deeper tones. "I would appreciate you telling me of your findings hmm?"

Hermione's eyes narrowed slightly and she took in the eerily calm presence of her teacher who wouldn't know what peace was if it held him down and took note that something strange had happened.

"Of course professor," she said, suddenly feeling the need to leave the classroom pronto. "If I ever learn how to defeat such a creature should I come across one…..you'll be the first person I tell."

"Good," he said softly.

Hermione turned and practically fled the room, the hair on the back of her neck standing up because she was suddenly getting the feeling that something very wrong was going on here.

But what was more annoying was that she had no way of knowing what it was.

Wracking her brains as to why something about her Defence professor seemed so _wrong _to her, Hermione tucked the books she was still holding back into her bag and bounded down the stairs to the great hall.

Her friends had decided to sit at the Hufflepuff table with Susan that evening and so she quickly made her way toward the badgers.

Cedric Diggory, a fourth year smiled at her in passing and she absently returned it and sat down next to Neville and Ron who were sitting across from Draco and Dudley.

"So what did you want to ask Quirrel Mione?" Ron asked, covering his mouth with his fist because it was full of sandwich.

"I just had a question about some of the creatures he faced," she said absently. "Does he seem…off to you?"

"You mean besides the fact that he reeks of garlic, stutters every time he opens his mouth and wears the most hideous purple turban I've ever seen?" Dudley asked listing off all the reasons on his fingers. "Yeah, I'd say he's a little off."

"Yeah, but it's more than his physical appearance," Hermione insisted. "I can't help but get the feeling that he's…..hiding something and it's bugging me."

"Quirrel?" Neville asked quietly. "He wouldn't hurt a fly."

"Isn't that kind of ironic though?" Susan interjected. "He's supposed to have been known for doing that. He's a defence teacher after all."

"Garlic draws the attention of Wrackspurts," Luna said thoughtfully taking a sip of her lemonade. "Perhaps Professor Quirrel has been possessed by them.

Despite herself, Hermione smiled at the typical Luna answer. "I don't think the solution is quite that simplistic Luna."

"Don't disregard the Wrackspurts Mione," the blonde said seriously. "They can be quite vicious. Rosemary is about the only thing that they don't like so Mummy hangs it up all the time in our house. Wrackspurts can possess you you know and rosemary is the only thing that they're afraid of."

Draco who was about to take a bite out of his rosemary spice bread coughed and set it back on the table causing Harry to laugh into his soup.

Hermione nibbled absently on a lemon square while the rest of her friends laughed and ate their dinner. She couldn't shake it though. Something about Professor Quirrel had seemed…..off.

It was going to bother her for a while until she learned what it was. It might have been nothing but her mother had always taught her to trust her instincts.

They might just save her in a dangerous situation.

No teacher was supposed to give her as…..eerie of a vibe as Quirrel gave her. Thinking back on everything that had happened throughout the beginning of the year up until now which was early February, Hermione remembered that Quirrel had taken an odd interest in Harry which her dark haired friend had shied away from. Harry hated his Boy Who Lived title and went out of way to tell everyone who wanted to be friends with him about it that he was just a normal eleven year old kid. He had a brother in Dudley a sibling on the way and a Mum who was looking after him.

Most of the other teachers had been able to keep their own personal feelings on what had happened that Halloween night out of the classroom but Quirrel wasn't one of them. That wasn't to say that he fawned over Harry but he did treat him with a certain degree of…..speculation….as if he wanted to see what Harry was truly capable of. Because Harry had started learning magic with Uncle Regulus when he was six, he knew a lot more magic than he let on but Regulus had urged him to downplay it to not draw attention to himself. He was told to do his best but not to go over the top.

Quirrel however had this subtle way of almost….testing Harry.

The only ones who were aware of this though were Harry Hermione and Dudley because out of all their friends they knew each other best.

It was almost so subtle that she might not even have noticed it but the consistency with which it happened was enough to make her aware of it.

"Mione?" Neville asked at her elbow and she turned back into the conversation.

"What?"

"We were talking about what we need to do next to find answers about the Cerberus," he said and she realized that all of her friends were looking at her.

"Maybe we shouldn't do anything right now," she suggested when she remembered what it was that they were talking about. "I mean right now, there doesn't seem to be any sort of need to understand what is going on here. There's no serious threat to the school as long as that creature doesn't get loose and if it's there for a reason than maybe we need to just leave it alone."

They all looked at her as if she had grown another head.

"I'm sorry," Draco said. "Weren't you the girl who said just a few months ago that we need to figure out what's going on in our school and that we have a responsibility to make it safe?"

"Nothing's happened since then to make it unsafe," Hermione argued back. "If that monster had gotten loose during the last few months than I would be all for leading the mob to the headmaster's office but it hasn't. So what say we lay low for the next little while and be normal eleven year olds who don't go chasing after monsters alright?"

Her friends looked a little bewildered at the sudden vehemence she was displaying but after a moment, turned back to their food as if she hadn't said anything.

Hermione ran a hand through her hair, feeling a little frazzled from her meeting with Professor Quirrel and the very obvious feeling that something was wrong with him.

"Are the Nargles getting you down Hermione?" Luna whispered leaning over to the strawberry blonde.

Hermione snorted. "Not today Luna, today it's the teachers that are giving me a headache. Professor Quirrel in particular."

Luna nodded in understanding. "The Wrackspurts like him but the Nargles can't stand him. It's an interesting phenomenon but he won't let me get close enough to him to figure out why. I think its that turban of his that draws them. It's such a bright color and my Mummy has always told me that Nargles like the color purple."

Despite herself, Hermione smiled. Luna, in spite of her oddness was a breath of fresh air and always brought a smile to her face.

She and Hermione had always gotten along extremely well and even though Luna's mind often wandered off the path into curious flights of fancy, she was sharp as a whip and very dependable when she was needed.

"Luna," she said finally. "You're always talking about the Nargles, but I've never seen one before. What on earth do they look like?"

Instantly the small blonde's face lit up in a dreamy smile. "They're quite docile at night and I've found a colony of them living in the Forbidden Forest. They particularly like to come out in the winter because the snow crystals in the forest attract them. I'm going out tonight to see if I can find any. Do you want to come with me?"

Hermione was about to say no. Going out in the middle of the night in the dead of winter didn't really sound like her of tea but after taking a few minutes to think it over, she decided it might be the thing she needed to clear her head.

Also, she had never seen the Forbidden Forest at night before and as menacing as it appeared in the day, night was one of the instances in which it actually looked rather pretty. The snow made it appear like a winter wonderland and the moon would often shine through the trees a like a spotlight shining on the snow and making it turn silver.

It was actually quite peaceful.

"Alright Luna," she said. "Where do I meet you so we can go find the Nargles?"

The small blonde brightened up right away. "When it's nearing curfew step outside the door of the Slytherin common room and I'll meet you there. As long as I'm holding your hand, the bracelet I have will cover us both in shadow."

Ω

After curfew found Hermione and Luna sneaking out of the castle down past the Black Lake and running to the Forbidden Forest. Hermione decided she wasn't going to tell her roommates Tracey and Daphne what she was doing and where she was going because they didn't really know Luna and would only tell her what a bad idea it was if she was caught.

Professor Snape, though he was tough to his snakes, was also a fair man and Hermione could tell it had gone a long way with him when Harry had treated him with respect no matter what he had dished out.

She wasn't that worried about getting caught however because Luna's method of disguise seemed to be full proof.

Sure enough, none of the portraits or even the ghosts they passed looked in their direction and Hermione was able to breathe easily as they left the castle and hurried out into the snow.

"We don't have to go too far into the forest Mione," Luna reassured her. "The Nargles like the snow covered bushed to make their homes in. Most of their bushed aren't that far inside the forest."

"We shouldn't be out here for too long though right?" the strawberry blonde asked trying not to shiver. "I'm already starting to get a little cold."

She took out her wand and cast a quick warming charm on the two of them before hurrying off after the blonde.

Hermione had to admit, it did look rather pretty out on the grounds on a winter's night. The moon was like a silver nickel in the sky and the stars were out in full force. There was only one tree around the Black Lake which they had sat under when it was still fall and somewhat warm out.

The Black Lake appeared almost like a mirror and Hermione absently wished she had a pair of skates so she could go skating on the lake. Skating had been one of her and Dudley's favorite pastimes when they were younger. Harry was a klutz before he started karate and so had always been tripping over his skates. Needless to say he hadn't enjoyed it very much.

"We're almost there Mione," Luna whispered.

Sure enough about thirty seconds more and the two eleven year olds were beneath the bare spreading branches of the enormous trees of the forest.

Luna let go of Hermione's hand and turned the moonstone in bracelet clockwise so that they once again became visible.

Hermione let out a breath of relief that they had managed to get away and watched it released into the cold air trailing away like the trail of a ghost.

"Alright Luna," she said turning to her odd blonde friend. "What do we have to do to find the Nargles?"

Luna pulled out her wand and cast a silencing charm on both of their feet so they could walk silently on the snow without being heard.

"First," she whispered. "We have to be very quiet. The Nargles are very observant and they can notice the slightest change in their environment. We need to be very careful and quiet."

Hermione raised an eyebrow but followed silently along behind her friend as they crept into the forest.

"The nicest thing about the Nargles," Luna whispered. "Is that in the wintertime, their wings emit snow drops and the drops fall on the snow and the branches and create crystals. They're sometimes used in medicine and healing plus they make a very pretty necklace. I made my Mummy one for Christmas."

_I may have to keep that in line for Mum when her birthday comes around again, _Hermione thought to herself.

Sure enough, the two girls wandered farther into the forest slowly and silently. The snow wasn't falling, but there was crisp crunchy snow and ice underfoot and bright stars overhead and even though it was cold and the breath could be seen leaving her mouth, she wasn't uncomfortable.

Luna however seemed to thrive in cold environments. She was dancing across the snow as if it were summertime and there was a dreamy smile on her face that was reserved for the happiest of days. Her cloak was also quite thin and only reserved for fall or spring days, but Luna didn't seem to have a problem.

"Luna?" Hermione asked.

"Yes?"

"This is just a question, but you don't get cold do you? It's just something I've observed about you in the past few months."

The blonde smiled at her. "Why no Mione. I don't generally get cold. I like all the seasons, but winter is my favorite. My Mummy says I get it from my Daddy. He likes the cold too."

Hermione had just opened her mouth to pursue that line of conversation when Luna gasped quietly and shot out a hand to stop her from going forward.

"What is it?"

Luna pointed. "Look."

Hermione glanced over her shoulder and was astonished to see that they had reached a small clearing where there appeared to be an abundance of small bushes dotted with millions of icicles and there appeared to be white and blue fairies buzzing around them.

Luna pulled her behind the trunk of the tree on the edge of the clearing and put a finger to her lips. "We need to be very quiet. If they see us, they'll fly off and we'll never get any snow crystals."

The two eleven year olds stood with their backs to the tree trunk while Luna slipped her bracelet back on and took Hermione's hand again before the two of them slowly emerged from behind the tree.

The fairy like Nargles didn't even seem to be aware of her presence as they strode forward. They were too busy dropping the peculiar silvery nectar from their wings onto the bushes and the snowy ground below.

Where it hit the ground, the snow seemed to be almost magnetized because the nectar pulled it into a perfect sphere almost like a pearl except it was clear and shone almost like a portion of a star had fallen from the heavens.

_That's beautiful, _Hermione thought feeling very pleasantly surprised. _I wonder if Luna does this every night. If she does, maybe I should consider coming out with her more often._

Luna pulled out from the folds of her cloak a small white wicker basket and danced forward to begin putting the crystals into it.

Hermione bent down to help her only after she observed the Nargles however. They reminded her of icy blue and white fairies and even appeared to have icicles in their hair. Their eyes were white despite what their skin was and they didn't appear to be wearing any clothes except for their wings which were twice the size of their bodies.

One of the Nargles appeared curious and though Hermione had disillusioned herself before stepping out from behind the tree it drifted closer as if it could sense her.

Hermione went stalk still on her hands and knees in the snow and simply watched as the white fairy drifted closer and closer. It stopped about an inch from her nose and simply looked at her as if it knew she were there.

Then before she even realized what was happening, it darted forward and pressed a tiny hand at the spot right between her eyes.

Instantly a feeling like she had been doused in cold water came over Hermione but it wasn't an unpleasant feeling, in fact it was rather refreshing as if she had previously been uncomfortably hot and had just taken a plunge into a cool pool of spring water.

She gave an unconscious sigh of relief.

Luna moved the basket and after taking in the momentary feeling of relaxation, she turned and began helping the small blonde refill her basket with snow crystals.

The snow had begun to fall again and Hermione watched with a contented smile on her face when she saw that the Nargles continued to buzz about them not even realizing they were there.

However it was not to last.

A sudden noise ahead of them to their left caused both Hermione and Luna to freeze in place.

The Nargles seemed to be having the same idea for they froze as well, as if they had been shocked with electricity.

Both girls waited and after a few seconds the sound came again. It was a deep rough grunt, almost as if there were a wild animal because it was harsh and guttural, like someone was clearing their throat after taking a drink

But it was close.

So very close…..

Hermione turned automatically to Luna and the two shot to their feet. Hermione was already disillusioned but Luna grabbed her hand and twisted the moonstone on the bracelet so the shadow of the moon covered them both.

"What is it?" Luna whispered.

"I don't know," Hermione whispered back. "But it's coming through those trees on the left side of the clearing."

Fearing the worst, the two eleven year olds crept forward toward the trees. Hermione was glad that Luna had placed those feather charms on their feet so they didn't make any footprints in the snow. It wouldn't do for someone to know they were out there.

They reached the trees on the left hand side of the clearing painstakingly trying not to make any noise.

Professor Flitwick hadn't taught them about sound charms yet so whether or not someone heard them was strictly up to luck.

The sound kept coming every few seconds and grew louder the closer to it that they got causing both Hermione and Luna to become so tense that the slightest breeze might have knocked them over.

Finally, they passed through the trees and chanced upon another clearing that was covered by snow.

But this one was not unoccupied.

Both Hermione and Luna caught their breath in horror when they saw the form of a tall hooded figure elongated in shadows in the middle of the clearing. It was kneeling over the form of a dead animal and upon closer inspection, the two first years saw that it was a unicorn.

The two of them had read up on magical creatures during their time in the library and knew that unicorns were sacred and magical creatures and to kill one was a very grave sin.

As the two girls looked closer, they both realised at the same time that this person or creature was leaning down to the belly of the unicorn and actually _drinking _its blood.

If that wasn't enough to make both of the eleven year olds nauseous then there was nothing that would.

Even in the dark of the night they were in, the both of them could see the dark red blood staining the snow and every so often the elongated figure would rise slightly to wipe its mouth on the hem of its cloak before lowering itself to the body of the animal again.

_It's horrible, _Hermione thought with a shudder. _What kind of monster would do such a thing?_

The blood of a unicorn was supposed to keep someone who was near death alive, but it was a terrible price to pay for from then on they would live a half life, only a shadow of their former selves. There was also an odd curse laud upon someone who drank the blood of a unicorn but that was diving into very dark magic.

Absently the strawberry blonde decided to go and hunt in the restricted section for a book on unicorn curses again.

She risked a glance at Luna whose eyes had gone wide and tears were shining in them like great big diamonds.

Instantly Hermione felt sorrow for her friend. Luna loved all magical creatures and knew her best friend's heart was breaking for the injustice.

She was so busy looking at Luna's face that she neglected to watch where she should have been looking at that was Luna's hand.

The blonde was so horrified at what she was seeing that her grip on the handle of the basket had gone slack and before Hermione realized what was happening, the basket slipped from her hand towards the ground.

Hermione was fast, but even with her reflexes, her hand just grazed the basket which was so heavy with snow crystals that it dropped into the snow with a splat.

Instantly the figure stopped what it was doing and went unnaturally still. It was facing away from them but slowly and methodically it raised its head because Hermione realized with panic that it had heard them. Something in her brain told her that if it came right down to it that this was going to be a long harder to beat than a troll despite the fact that it was smaller.

She was so frozen that she didn't even register when it got slowly to its feet. It was at least six feet tall and Hermione swallowed hard.

Faster than she would have thought possible the figure whirled around and before Hermione turned back around she caught a glimpse of crimson colored eyes.

If that…._thing_…..was that fast, there was no way the two of them would outrun it back to the castle.

Plus Hermione wasn't about to go quietly.

"What do we do?" Luna asked barely moving her lips.

Hermione reached inside the folds of her cloak breathing a sigh of relief when she felt the cool metal of her knives strapped to her thighs. Since the troll incident in October she didn't go anywhere without them. She yanked them from their sheaths.

"I'll tell you in two seconds," she whispered back.

And then they went silent as the footfalls of whatever monster they had chanced upon came closer…..waiting for all hell to break loose.

Ω

**Alrighty, so a lot more action in this chapter. We finally get to see Tony's interaction with Nat like in the movie and there will be more exciting stuff to come there too. Sorry for the cliffhanger, but I felt it was time to shake things up a little. Don't worry, we'll be going full speed ahead after this. I think there will be three more chapter and then we'll have reached the end of first year. Also...very exciting news, I am currently jumping up and down as we speak lol. I have started my own Youtube Channel where I will be reading some of my stories. I recently got into ASMR a few months ago and I can't tell you how much it has helped me to relax. This channel will combine my favorite things...writing and relaxation. Some of the work will be my own and some of it will be from other sources. I will be posting this announcement to all my other stories as well. My first video will be uploaded tomorrow. It will feature some of the most famous stories we have seen through history as well, stories of Egyptian, Greek and Roman mythology as well as snippets of stories I have posted on this site. There will be Child of Lightning segments there as well. The channel name is The Whispered Word. It would mean the world to me to if you guys would go and check it out! SECOND ANNOUNCEMENT. SORRY EVERYONE, I HAD SOME TROUBLE UPLOADING MY VIDEO TO YOUTUBE, BUT IT IS NOW PUBLIC. IF YOU WISH TO VIEW IT PLEASE GO TO YOUTUBE AND TYPE IN THE WISPERED WORD, THE FIRST LETTERS ARE CAPITALS. LOOK FOR THE PICTURE OF GANDALF RIDING TO MINAS TIRITH LOL. THAT'S MY CHANNEL. I HOPE YOU LIKE IT! PLEASE LIKE SHARE AND SUBSCRIBE!**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28

Hermione had been in a lot of stressful situations in the past and so from a young age, she had understood greatly the value of time. Not a lot of four year olds go through hostage situations and so when she had had the misfortune of going through such a thing when she was a child, she remembered every second that had passed where she sat curled in her cell waiting to see if her mother was going to break them out or if she was going to be there forever, or if she were going to die.

It wasn't a very pleasant experience as you might understand and so each second that passed mattered greatly to the strawberry blonde because it meant that something new and different might happen in the next.

So as she and Luna stood there with their backs to the tree, holding whatever weapons they had, Hermione closed her eyes, breathed deeply and counted the seconds that passed with acute clarity.

Luna appeared to have entered the right head space as well, for her fists were clenched and her eyes wide open as if she were able to see perfectly in the dim lighting.

Hermione's blades were erect in her hands as she waited and remembered what her mother had taught her since she had been training her for seven years.

_Lesson one: Know your opponent._

Since Hermione didn't really have the time to search out what it was that made this creature who it was or what it was, all she really knew was that it had crimson colored eyes and drank unicorn blood.

That meant like her, it wasn't exactly human.

But then again, she remembered that she interacted with things that were out of the ordinary on a day to day basis so she didn't have much room to judge.

Then a few feet behind them there was the crunch of footsteps on new fallen snow and the strawberry blonde swallowed hard.

_Lesson two: Be quick, don't stop to demand answers._

Hermione cast her eyes down and to the left of her where the moon was shining and slowly began to see the long shadow of the hooded figure come into focus.

She began to feel the electricity sizzling in her blood and the silence became deafening.

Beside her, Luna was moving her lips, muttering in an odd language but Hermione chose not to focus on that right now.

And then with an eerie cry, the figure leapt from behind the tree and came in front of them and both eleven year olds didn't hesitate.

Luna gave a loud whistle and all of a sudden, a wall of ice blasted up from the snowy ground and surrounded the tall figure in a cold prison.

The figure swung in an arc and with the wand in his hand, blasted the wall to smithereens before leaping out of it and turning the weapon on them.

_Lesson three: Analyze yourself and them_.

Many times when Natasha had been dealing with an opponent in hand to hand combat, she had had to adapt her movements to match theirs in order to know them so she could subdue them.

_His height is going to be a disadvantage, _Hermione thought as she ducked under the blast that he sent her way from the end of his wand.

_Go for the legs._

It was like her mother was standing right next to her when that voice came into her head.

Hermione ducked low and lunged for the aforementioned limbs in front of her.

They crumbled like sand before a wave as she connected with them and the wand in its hand went flying.

With unerring reflexes, Hermione's hand shot out and seized the wand before angling it at the tall figure who now lay in a gangly mess on the ground.

Luna came toward her, her fists covered in ice once more.

"Who are you?" the strawberry blonde demanded.

The figure was silent for a moment before it bared its sharp teeth at her, teeth that were still covered in blood and uttered a low chuckle.

"Child you have no idea who you are dealing with," it said in a low croaking voice.

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "Seeing as how I'm the one holding your wand I don't think you have a lot of room to talk."

This seemed to amuse the figure. "Powerful children….excellent. I will need some of those for my imminent return. But not now…..the time has not yet come."

Hermione was a little annoyed at this point and the adrenaline in her veins was causing her fingers to twitch. "Yeah see I'm not much for monologue and you seem to have a flair for the theatrics so I'm going to cut this short…..who are you?"

This question only seemed to amuse the figure even further for his laugh deepened and instead of replying, he raised his hand above his head and quick as a whip snapped his fingers.

In an instant he vanished and Hermione was a second too late as the bolt of electricity she sent at him hit the snow the second he vanished leaving a burning hole in its wake.

The two eleven year olds stood over the spot where he had been for a moment before staring at each other.

Luna managed to retain her dreamy exterior but Hermione could tell that the encounter had unsettled her. She couldn't blame the blonde because she felt pretty unsettled herself.

"What on earth was that?" she asked.

Hermione eyed the wand that was still in her hands. "Trouble…..big trouble and I have a feeling that whatever that thing was and the odd happenings in the castle are connected. Don't ask me how I know I just have a feeling."

Luna nodded thoughtfully. "I think you're right Mione. That strange music we heard a few months ago in the third floor corridor had the same aura that this creature had. It was very evil."

Hermione nodded grimly. "There's something very fishy going on around here and I am dying to know what it is. Whatever it is, it seems dangerous and if it affects the safety of the students, than we have a duty to investigate."

She was thinking along the same lines as her mother because Natasha would follow the investigation with dogged determination until she had uncovered every facet of the truth.

And Hermione was her daughter after all.

Absently Hermione tucked the strange wand back into her pocket deciding to do some research on it tomorrow and Luna gathered the snow drops to take back to the castle. Both of them worked in silence as they had a lot to think about.

The thoughts in Hermione's mind though were anything but quiet.

She knew she needed to talk to her mom about what was going on, but as much as she loved her mother, the strawberry blonde was very independent and she didn't want to go to her mother unless the problem became life threatening.

It was a lesson that she would learn later.

Ω

Natasha could consider herself an exceptionally patient person.

She had posed as sleeper agents in domestic locations for years and she had had to play the role of many normative persons so she knew all too well how to keep her cool.

But Tony Stark was severely testing that cool level.

The man was arrogant, stubborn, narcissistic and completely obsessed with beautiful women. His presence since she was his new assistant was a constant irritation because she had to be around him for most of the day before she could return to legal.

Fury seemed pleased with her progress however, and that was really all that mattered but Natasha was beginning to seriously wonder what on earth it was that her boss wanted from Stark so badly that he had to use such an underhanded scheme to get it.

After another long week with the Stark scion, Natasha returned to her private room in the hotel that had been rented for her while she was away from Washington and had to physically restrain herself from taking her heels off and throwing them across the room.

As it was she did slam them down into the shoe rack with a little too much vigor.

"I would ask how the events of your day transpired but judging from your last action, I would say that I already know."

Natasha mentally cursed how he was able to do that and turned around, trying to hide her relief at seeing him.

The god was once more dressed in human clothes as he normally was as he would stand out greatly in the garb of Asgard. Either way he looked good to her, but then he always did.

He was standing by the window on the opposite side of the room dressed in navy blue with his arms folded across his broad chest and his blonde hair neatly tied back. The dying sunlight was at his back and created a warm halo about him as he stood in the pool of sunlight from the sunset.

She set the files she had been holding down on the bed. "Must you do that? The last thing I want to do is return to my training and attack you."

The blonde raised an eyebrow as if amused. "And what makes you think that you would be able to surprise me enough that you would even have a chance to attack?"

Despite herself, Natasha smirked because he was teasing her and she knew it. "You've seen me fight before, you know exactly what I'm capable of."

His smirk widened. "That I have and if I were a human being I would most certainly not want to cross you."

"Oh so now you're playing the god card?"

He strode across the room, wrapped his arms about her waist and pulled her close. "Unfortunately that is the only card I have to play when it comes to you."

She huffed but allowed herself to be pulled closer. She really had missed him after all. Being practically married while your husband lived in another galaxy was taxing at times.

Natasha was just thankful enough that she had enough to do to keep her busy so she didn't spend all her time thinking about him and her daughter.

Sometimes Petunia and Regulus would call and she would spend some time talking to them and that was always nice. Petunia would be due in May and was halfway through her term. She always complained about how much her feet hurt and how much she wanted the pregnancy to be over, but the red head had a feeling she loved how much Regulus doted on her and would kind of miss it when the pregnancy was over.

The baby was healthy and there were no foreseeable problems. Regulus was thrilled because he had taken her to France for a weekend so the two could spend some time with Sirius and while they were there they had gone to a healer who told them that the baby had a strong magical core.

Thor absently grazed her cheek with his knuckles, causing her to turn her attention back to him.

"You seem distracted," he observed. "Is Stark still giving you trouble?"

Something Natasha had observed about him in the last little while she had been working for Stark Industries was that he seemed both amused and irritated when she was around other men and complained about them.

She knew it bothered him that he wasn't able to see her and Hermione every day because of the situation they were in and it mildly pleased her that they both felt seriously inconvenienced by the situation.

"I'm fine," she said after he had bent and given her a chaste kiss. "I suppose it's a credit to Stark's tendencies that he's able to ruffle me at all. Not many people have been able to."

Thor raised an eyebrow. "None more so than I, I hope?"

Natasha smirked at the god. "Don't worry, you still hold the honor for that."

"Good."

She let herself relax in his arms and soon all the tension that had begun to mount in her shoulders since the week had begun slowly ebbed away.

Finally he pulled back and stared down at her with his stormy blue eyes. "Perhaps it would do for you to obtain some fresh air rather than wasting away in this tiny room. Odin, how you humans exist in such small spaces all your life is beyond me."

"We don't exactly have access to the Nine Realms like you Asgardians do," Natasha retorted. "So living spaces down here on earth are somewhat limited what with seven billion people living here."

"Hmm,"

He waited for her to dress into more comfortable clothes, which included jeans, runners and a sweater and then the two of them left the hotel room.

He took her hand when they got out onto the street and Natasha didn't even seem to notice because he had done it so often over the last ten years since they had met.

It had taken a long time for her to get to that point however because her heart had been so closed off and so jaded and so icy because of the world she had grown up in. She loved her adoptive father but she had never said those words to him and the only person she had ever told she loved them to was Hermione.

Those words had never been said between her and Thor but he seemed to understand that her past had affected her in the way it had and so hadn't pushed for anything more in their relationship than she was willing or able to give.

That had endeared him to her even more.

They were essentially husband and wife after all and they certainly argued like a couple especially when it came to their daughter.

It was very important to Natasha that Hermione experience life as normally as possible because it was something that she never got to do growing up with a military father and having to go from place to place a lot.

There had been a time when she was younger where she wanted to be a ballet dancer and despite her career choice it was something she had never forgotten and she didn't want Hermione to forget the importance of dreams either.

It wasn't like the eleven year old was going to have as normal of a life as she would have liked being a demigod witch and all and she wanted to ensure that she was as prepared for that life as possible.

But if Hermione had a dream that she wanted to pursue, Natasha was going to ensure that she had the means to get there.

"You are very quiet," Thor observed as they walked down the Miami sidewalk from the hotel. "Is something wrong?"

Natasha was grateful that the hotel Fury had set her up in was all the way across town from Stark Tower so she didn't have to worry about anyone from her place of work seeing her.

The sun was beginning to set and she could hear the distant waves from Miami Beach that brought back memories from a little over a decade earlier.

The murmur of the people walking past them provided appropriate noise as Natasha tried to pretend they were just like any other couple walking down the street.

But that was something that she knew they would never be.

"No," she replied. "I'm simply contemplating how different life is now. Our daughter is off at school and we live halfway around the world from each other, while you live in another galaxy it seems. A lot of things have changed."

"But the important things haven't," he reminded her gently as they walked. "We are still together and still a family. Is this what is bothering you?"

Natasha paused. She didn't get much time to think throughout the day when she wasn't catering to Stark's demands so contemplating her relationship with a god and her witch daughter wasn't really a priority in the way of completing her job.

It wasn't like she was normal but she had accepted that truth a long time ago. Perhaps it was just because they were so scattered across the world and the realms doing different things and they were all keeping enormous secrets from the people closest to them and so that made for a lot of pressure between them.

Natasha had no doubts that they were strong enough to handle it, but it did get a bit taxing after a while.

"No," she replied. "But trying to determine what Fury is up to by using me to get to Stark is. I know that it's his tech that he wants particularly the Iron Man suit that has made Stark such a celebrity because using that type of technology to end wars would be instrumental. At the same time, Stark is such a narcissistic cretin….granted a smart narcissistic cretin that he's keeping all of this tech to himself. I can't help but wonder if this is a man who even knows how much good he could do for the world."

Her husband was quiet for a very long moment before answering. "Perhaps it is not about selfishness but perhaps he is simply afraid."

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "Of what?"

"That the technology he produces could cause more harm then good if put into the wrong hands. What makes your director so sure that he would be able to ensure that Stark's tech was stolen and sold on the black market or that it wouldn't be used by your government for nefarious purposes?"

Natasha paused as she thought about that and grudgingly admitted that he did have a point. She remembered reading in Stark's case file that he had spent several weeks in a hostage situation in the Middle East being held by terrorists who wanted him to work for them and help them take back Afghanistan.

Something had obviously happened to him over there that had made him wary of outside help or even letting anyone near his tech and whatever it was had made him reckless and aggressive when it came to defending it.

Natasha felt her icy exterior towards the man melt ever so slightly.

Her frustration slipped between her teeth in a low growl and Thor noticed her change in countenance with a telltale smirk.

The red head saw it and rolled her eyes. "Alright, alright, you're right…..again."

He chuckled deep in his throat. "My darling Natasha, I don't say things like this for the purpose of me being right and you being wrong. I say these things because I want you to think differently. You are a methodical person and you adapt to change quite well. But one thing you lack is the ability to see the point of view of someone who is frustrating you."

Natasha bit the edge of her lip and was forced to concede the point again.

When it came to understanding people before her daughter she was methodical, clean cut and only saw them as a means to an end. Seeing life through their eyes wasn't what she was trained to do. She could act like them certainly, but when it came to taking on their perspective…..it wasn't something she thought about on a day to day basis.

And once again…he was right.

He squeezed her hand gently. "It's is simply something to consider."

She nodded but decided not to respond at that time.

By this point they had walked a significant distance from the hotel, but Natasha wasn't worried. One of the things she liked most about being a witch was the ability to travel from place to place within seconds by apparition. Clint of course hated it when she had transported them back from his farm to Washington and had very nearly lost his lunch when she had landed them just outside the city.

The sun had just kissed the horizon and the sound of the waves was very close but still Natasha and Thor walked along in comfortable silence.

"Have you heard from Hermione recently?" he asked at last.

"I receive letters from her every week and we speak regularly," Natasha put in. "I get the feeling that she's exceptionally busy with her studies and her extracurricular activities. But she finds time to write for which I am happy."

He nodded but didn't say anything else and she took his silence to mean that he was glad to hear that their daughter was alright but at the same time was frustrated that he could not always see her for himself.

"You should go see her," Natasha put in gently.

He nodded but didn't say anything.

In truth, Thor was growing weary of the situation. His daughter and wife were half a world away and he could only see them when he was given leave to go on assignment for his father. In the hundreds of years that he had been alive he had never envied the mortals with their swift lives and aging processes and now he was terrified because he knew that a part of him would die when Natasha and Hermione left this world.

In the back of his mind he began to make plans for what he would do to prevent that from happening. They either all stayed together or he followed them out of this world.

He loved Hermione and he loved Natasha. They had never said those words aloud to each other, but they both knew it because actions meant more to them than words. They preferred to demonstrate it through more practical means.

There were several ways that an Asgardian could prevent death and there was only one way for Natasha to escape death and that would be to come to Asgard and to pass the tests of Hela.

The jury was still out on whether or not Hermione was a mortal or an immortal but Thor knew that if it was the former he would have to take precautions in that regard as well.

"Now you're the one who's going quiet on me," Natasha said drawing him back to the present. "What's going on?"

He forced himself to smile, pushing his concerns to the back of his mind where he would address them at a later date. "Nothing, I am simply enjoying being here with you."

In the back of his mind however, Thor had begun to make plans.

Ω

"Are you out of your mind Granger?" Draco asked.

The strawberry blonde rolled her eyes at her friend's theatrics.

It had been two days since she and Luna had been attacked in the woods and she had kept the strange wand she had recovered on her at all time, pouring over books about the make of it and who would have owned such a wand.

She remembered going to Ollivander's to get her first wand and hearing him say that the wand chose the wizard and that the elements in the wand would align with one's core so that they could produce magic.

It turned out that hawthorn in a wand was a substance that had commonly been associated with dark wizards.

It was a connection that Hermione was searching out and she and Luna had come to the conclusion that to find the owner of the wand they were going to have to take a trip to Ollivander's personally and ask the old wand maker who the owner of the strange piece was.

But in order to do that they were going to need to replace a wand.

Hermione had come to the conclusion that she was going to have to break the wand in order to have any hope of finding out more about it and she had accepted it.

"No Draco," she said. "I am not out of my mind and you and I both know that in order to find out who that thing was on the property we need to know about the wand it had. The only way to do that is to go to Ollivander's."

"But this is crazy," the blonde sputtered. "How on earth are you going to sneak out of the castle to get to Diagon Alley and question the old wand maker about this wand?"

Hermione made a clicking sound as they sat together at the library during free period. "Draco, I'm going to do this completely by the book. I am going to tell Professor Snape that I have broken my wand and if he would kindly take some time out of his day to accompany me to Diagon Alley to purchase another."

She winked at him. "See? Completely above board."

He huffed. "Granger, you have no idea what you're getting yourself into. You have no idea who that creature was or what kind of dark magic was in that wand."

"I know, but I intend to find out."

He let out an exasperated sigh. "You're not getting it. Strange things haven't been happening just at school. When I was home for Christmas, my father had a lot of visitors over and I was sent to my room so I would listen in on them. That didn't stop me from putting the listening charm we learned to good use though."

Instantly he had her full attention. "Draco, what did you hear?"

The blonde cast his eyes down at the table. "Before I was born, my father was one of the Dark Lord's right hand men. He didn't go to prison because he claimed to be imperiused while he was serving him. All of this happened when I was only a year old. That's how we managed to keep out of Azkaban."

Hermione had had a feeling that Lucius Malfoy was a shady character having seen him when he picked Draco up from the train station at Christmas. Those eyes of his had told her that he had seen a lot more depraved things than he should have in his life time. She had resolved to be wary of the man.

"Draco," she said cautiously. "Do all these meetings that your father has been having have something to do with the Dark Lord? You told me that your father worked for him when he was alive."

This proceeded to make the blonde look even more uncomfortable. "Look Granger….there are some people in the wizarding world…..who don't think that the Dark Lord is really dead. I mean my father's always said that no body was ever recovered and the only thing left of him was his cloak. He thinks….he thinks it means that the Dark Lord isn't dead…..and that he's going to make a return."

At these words, Hermione went cold with the realization. If what Draco was saying was true, than the most dangerous wizard in recent history was not dead and perhaps was actively seeking to make a return.

"Do you have any proof of this?" she demanded.

He shook his head. "Only what I've heard in whispers."

Hermione swallowed hard. "Draco you can't tell anyone about this. If it somehow gets out that the Dark Lord may still be alive and planning a return, the whole country would be thrown into mass hysteria and panic. It's been over ten years since his defeat and people still can't talk about him without shuddering."

"I know, which is why I don't see why you can't leave well enough alone about this wand. It was probably just some unknown undocumented creature that we have yet to catalogue."

Hermione raised an eyebrow at the blonde as she got to her feet and put her books back into her bag. "I might be willing to believe that if he hadn't talked to me and Luna and said that his return was imminent."

Draco paled. "It said that?"

She nodded. "Which makes me believe that whatever the Cerberus is guarding has something to do with whatever that thing in the forest was. The coincidence is just too strong."

They had no sooner left the library when they ran into Luna who was sitting in the window well just outside.

The small blonde hopped off the window sill and greeted them with a dreamy smile. "Did you tell him?"

Hermione nodded. "I'll tell Snape after class that my wand is broken and if we can go to Diagon Alley as soon as possible so we can get another one. In the meantime, you guys have to keep an eye on the third floor corridor and the others have to keep an eye on Quirrel. Something's going on with him."

Draco and Luna exchanged looks because they had seen this all first hand. The Defense professor had been acting even more erratic than usual lately. His lessons were all over the place and his dates of where he was and when, were missing or over lapping.

More than once, Hermione had caught him whispering to himself when he thought no one was around and one evening a couple of weeks earlier she had been leaving the library later and had seen him darting down the hallway.

She had hidden herself behind a pillar and followed discreetly only to have seen him stop a few minutes later in a dark spot by a window and start muttering to himself. Only it didn't seem so much that he was talking to himself as he was having a conversation because there were the appropriate pauses between his sentences where someone else would have responded.

And then there came the odd hissing noises which crazily appeared to be coming from his turban. Hermione had to rub her eyes a few times and make sure there was nothing in her ears before she quite believed it herself.

The whole castle was about to explode with secrets and mystery and Hermione was just about ready to crack this case wide open.

"I know," Luna observed as they headed down to the Great Hall to meet their friends. "And today he was muttering something about the blibbering humdinger when he was clearly talking about a species of werewolf two minutes earlier. And people say that I'm crazy!"

Hermione smirked.

Ever since the incident a few nights ago with the creature in the woods, she and all the rest of her friends had been on high alert. No one wanted to go to the teachers with any of their suspicions though…..at least not yet.

Quirrel's erratic behaviour hadn't just been a subject of interest between their group of friends though, in fact it had spread to the rest of the upper years in the castle who either thought he was a raving lunatic or a joke that didn't need to be taken seriously.

Hermione thought he was something much more than either of them, but time would reveal all ends.

The three of them entered the Great Hall and headed for the Ravenclaw table where everyone had already congregated with their lunch. Ron gave Draco a nod when he saw him which was returned.

The two had been behaving civilly to each other for the past few months to Hermione's satisfaction and Susan was showing Harry something out of her textbook. Harry's cheeks would go pink whenever Susan's red curls would brush against his hand and Hermione bit the inside of her cheek to keep from smiling.

Dudley who was talking to Neville about Herbology was the first to see them sit down.

"Did you talk to Snape yet?" he asked and all of a sudden, anything else was unimportant.

"Not yet," Hermione replied. "I'm going to do it after classes are over that way he's less unlikely to say no."

They had learned a few things from their crabby potions master in the last few months. He hated all of his students, but he tolerated them because they were Slytherins. He loved potions and hated when people butchered what was in their cauldrons and he flew about the castle like a bat taking points from students left and right.

All in all, he was one of their favourite teachers.

Hermione had decided that he would for the most part be occupied with the potions in Slug and Jiggers while she dashed to Ollivander's, found out as much as she could about the wand and got a new one before he was the wiser.

"Do you still have the wand with you?" Neville asked.

"Are you crazy?" Susan demanded. "She can't carry the wand around with her, what if someone were to see it and take and use it for whatever. I'm sure it's locked in the bottom of her trunk out of sight."

"Anyway," Harry put in. "What would be the point of having it with her now? She has to go back to the dorm after dinner anyway and get it so there's no reason to have it now."

"So you're just going to go up to the counter, hand over the wand and ask him to see if he can fix it and wait and see what he says?" Ron asked.

Hermione shrugged. "Pretty much."

Her mother had often said that sometimes the direct approach was the best unless you wanted to waste time and a whole lot of emotional energy on something with the exact same results.

It wouldn't do to create some sort of secret identity. Just have the right questions for the right answers and the plan was very straightforward.

Hermione glanced at Susan, Neville and Ron. "You three have defence this afternoon right?"

They nodded.

"Good, then you'll be able to keep an eye on Quirrel and follow him if he starts acting even shadier than he already does."

"I don't know Mione," Dudley put in. "I still don't see how Quirrel's wrapped up in all of this. I mean I do think he has a few screws loose, but you don't really think he's dangerous do you?"

"I don't know Dud," Hermione shrugged. "But I'm not willing to take any chances with a nut like that loose in the school, especially if he's in cahoots with a flesh eating three headed dog, so I want to keep as much of an eye on him as possible."

"Well then I guess Luna, Draco and I can go to the library and try to find more information about a Cerberus," Harry decided.

"Good," Hermione said. "Now it shouldn't take too long to get the information that I need and I should be back by curfew."

Plans decided, they all finished their meals and went their separate ways.

Ω

_This place certainly does need a cleaning,_ Hermione thought as she stood outside Ollivander's looking in through the window.

Professor Snape, believing her independent enough to see about getting a new wand herself had gone off to Slug and Jiggers leaving her with a stern warning to go nowhere else but the wand store.

So here she was.

It was a dark, dusty and dinghy place with only several flickering lights. There were shelves wall to wall behind the front desk and they were filled to the brim with boxes containing wands just waiting to be used by excited eleven year olds.

Hermione wasn't easily intimidated but suddenly the purpose of her coming seemed to take on an even more sinister note.

_Get it together Romanov, this could affect the safety of the school. Now stop acting like a little pansy, march in there and find out what you need to know!_

She took a deep breath, squared her shoulders and strode to the door. When she had yanked it open and stepped inside, she was immediately hit by the scent of musky old boxes and mothballs.

_And once again, there is the desperate need for a maid in this place. _

Hermione stepped inside and let the door fall shut behind her and took a deep breath. The moment it close however, there was a shuffling from the shelves behind the front desk and a bewhiskered old man doddered out from behind the mounds of wands.

He had a head of wild white hair along with the tiniest pair of spectacles perched on the tip of his nose. He was dressed in a long black robe and his gnarled hands were trembling slightly with age as he walked from the back rooms towards her.

Upon noticing the strawberry blonde, he stopped and pushed the spectacles higher on his nose.

"Miss Granger," he said in rough voice. "I didn't expect to see you again so soon. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I'm afraid this is a business call sir," Hermione said briskly and walked up to the counter. "I need your help in repairing a wand."

She reached into her pocket and pulled out the two pieces of wood that she had strategically broken and placed them on the counter.

He reached out with a trembling hand towards them and took them in his hand before bringing them to his face so he could examine them.

Hermione watched his face carefully as he perused the artifacts. She wanted to know the exact expression he would have when he remembered who had owned the wand before. His eyes were roaming the wood with the practiced ease of someone who had been perfecting his craft for years.

Finally he raised his eyes to hers and took the spectacles from his nose. "Miss Granger….how on earth did you come by this? If I recall correctly, the wand I sold to you was eleven inches made of dragon heartstring and a phoenix feather. This is twelve inches, made of hawthorn, the claw of a Thestral and…"

He trailed off and didn't finish which caused the first year to lean forward on the counter in anticipation. "What Mr. Ollivander? What else is it made of?"

He was quiet for a long time and his cloudy blue eyes seemed to sharpen. "The talon of a Cerberus."

Carefully, he set the wand down on the counter. "Such materials are extremely rare, poisonous and deadly to use. A wand such as this must have been made in a time when such monsters were common, before they were hunted to extinction hundreds of years ago. The process with which one had to make it would be to first boil the talon of the Cerberus in the poison of hemlock, a common plant used for committing suicide of Grecian prisoners. What is more….this wand was not made by me."

"It is wasn't?" Hermione whispered. "Well then who made it?"

"That would appear to be the question of the hour," the old wand maker said. "But I do not think you will find the answer in this Alley Miss Granger. I am not even sure of how to go about repairing such a piece."

Hermione took a deep breath to try and curb her frustration.

This entire trip had been for nothing then if she couldn't find out the owner of the wand. She nodded at the wand maker and took the pieces back before putting them in her pocket wrapped in her handkerchief.

Hermione had no sooner bid the man goodbye and started for the door when he called out after her. "Oh miss Granger? There is one resource I could perhaps direct you to if you wish to learn more about the origins of that wand."

Hermione stopped in her tracks and turned around on a dime. "Yes?"

Ω

And so it was that Hermione, Draco, Dudley and Harry found themselves in the Slytherin common room that night huddled by the fire pouring through the enormous book that Ollivander had given her.

"This is some disturbing stuff Mione," Dudley said as he turned the page. "Did you know that in ancient times in Norse mythology, they used to boil the wands in the blood of their enemies before they were deemed good for use?"

Harry shuddered. "It says here that in ceremonial wands used only for casting curses they would let the wands ferment in the entrails of a cow for thirty days before they could be used."

Draco's upper lip curled in disgust. "That's nothing. It says on this page that sometimes they would kill pregnant women and once they had done the deed, they would remove the still alive child and slaughter it above the wand because there was the belief that the blood of an infant was the most pure."

Collectively the four of them shuddered.

"It also says that there were many nomadic highland tribes who believed so much in purity of blood that they used to kidnap virgins and use their tears in wand productions before they were killed and the wands were cooled in their blood," Hermione volunteered, making a face.

"Merlin," Dudley breathed. "I'm so glad we've become more civilized in the last thousand years."

"But what is a wand like this still doing around then?" Draco asked as he examined the two pieces sitting before them on the table. "I mean, if this wand has been around the last thousand years or so, who on earth has been using it?"

"My question exactly," Hermione muttered as she pawed through the pages of her book. "But what I want to know is how to repair it."

"Are you crazy Mione?" Harry demanded. "You have no idea what this wand is capable of or what spells its cast. It could be something incredibly dangerous and you want to make it work again?"

"Harry, I want to find out about what's going on in this castle, and if sometimes taking the dangerous route to get there to find out is the only way its going to work, then hell its what I have to do."

Dudley and Harry exchanged glances. They knew what Aunt Tasha did for a living and that Hermione was almost as dangerous as she was, but being magically dangerous and physically dangerous were two completely different things.

Needless to say the four of them were all exhausted the next morning from their night of detective work which had yielded no favourable results. Hermione wasn't even halfway through the enormous book of wand lore that Ollivander had given her however so she wasn't ready to call it quits yet.

Hermione wasn't one to give up however. She knew something fishy was going on around here and she would be damned if she didn't figure it out.

"I have defense with you first," Susan leaned over and whispered at breakfast that morning. "We kept an eye on Quirrel all day yesterday but he was as normal as ever. Well as normal as a stuttering professor can be."

Hermione gave an absent nod. "Thanks Susie, let's try and keep more of an eye on him today. He's connected to this somehow, I just know it."

The red head nodded and the group got up from the table and headed in separate directions to their different classes.

Susan and Hermione walked side by side behind Dudley Draco and Harry as they headed up to the fourth floor.

All were quiet as the followed their classmates to the room.

It was now February and the strange goings on in the castle had been happening for roughly six months. It was driving Hermione mad that she was no closer to solving this mystery than she was the day they had learned about the Cerberus.

As she settled down into her seat beside Susan, the strawberry blonde resolved that she would crack this case by the time June rolled around and it was time for them to leave.

The door of the class room swung open and Professor Quirrel skittered into the room in all of his nervous anxiety.

Hermione watched him carefully as he greeted the class and began to teach with his usual stutter making her teeth stand on end and her head ache. Hus hands trembled and his nose had that insufferable twitch that made her want to jerk it off his face so it would stop.

His eyebrows were constantly going up and down as they were tied to marionette strings and his feet were consistently shuffling from left to right.

And his fingers…

All of a sudden she blinked.

His fingers were burned, at least the tips of them from what she could see had been burned black like they were covered in ash. But it almost appeared as if he had burned his fingertips off because though they were black they were also smooth and unlined. It was like he had repeatedly tried to grab hold of something that was too hot or acidic for him to touch and the result had been him burning off his fingertips.

Hermione's eyes narrowed at him as he droned on in his pathetic stutter. _What on earth was he doing that could have caused that?_

"N-Now then c-children. C-Can a-anyone t-tell me w-what is the, the b-best w-way to d-defeat a w-werewolf?" Quirrel asked and Hermione jerked back to the present.

Had Quirrel tried to get past that thing in the third floor corridor and that was how he had managed to burn off his fingertips?

_Don't be crazy Romanov, if he had tried to get past the Cerberus he would have much more to complain about than burned fingertips. He'd probably be dead._

It was just then that Hermione realized that not only did she need to find out the origins of this wand that the creature had held, but she also needed follow Quirrel to make sure he didn't go to the third floor corridor.

_Now what could he possibly want with whatever's in there? _She thought to herself. She knew that Dumbledore had declared that entire corridor off limits at the beginning of the year and so whatever Quirrel had wanted with whatever was hidden there couldn't be for something too nefarious right?

_Get real Romanov, you can't skulk about the castle in the dead of night with your robe pulled over your head if you weren't up to nefarious schemes._

The subject of the burned fingertips bothered the strawberry blonde all through class and when the chimes went off to signal the end of the period, Hermione flinched in surprise.

"Are you alright Mione?" Dudley asked. "You seemed awfully tense in there."

"Just thinking Dud."

It had been an unspoken point of interest with all of them that following Quirrel's class they would always go to the library and look up whatever he was teaching on because it was a lucky day when they were actually able to understand it.

They sat at a table one shelf shy of the restricted section and said nothing for about two minutes.

"What on earth did Quirrel do to his hands?" Susan said finally. "Did he dip his fingertips in acid?"

"It was odd," Harry noted, "and his stutter seemed even worse today than it normally does."

"We need to see what he's up to," Dudley said. "I've noticed something too."

"What's that?" Draco asked.

"In the last few months I've noticed he's never at the staff table during dinner. He's always there during breakfast and lunch but during dinner, he's always absent. Why is that?"

Hermione blinked, impressed. In the last few months she had never made that connection.

"Where do you think he goes?" Susan asked.

"Well why don't we find out?" Harry asked. "I have the cloak I got for Christmas. Two of us should follow him so it isn't obvious that we're all missing and then we'll wait outside his classroom for him to come out and then follow him where he goes."

"Harry that's bloody brilliant," Susan exclaimed. "But which one of us should do it?"

"Well it's Potter's cloak," Draco suggested. "So I suppose he should be the one to go. But who for the other?"

They couldn't decide to Dudley rooted a coin out of his pocket and they flipped it to determine who would be the second party to spy.

It turned out that Hermione's brain wasn't only eidetic, she could also predict certain scenarios with startling accuracy.

So as soon as the last class of the day ended, Hermione grabbed Harry's arm and darted for the dorms where they retrieved the cloak from the boys dorm and dashed back up to the fourth floor where they lingered outside of the defense classroom and waited for all of the students to leave.

They ended up waiting for around a half an hour for the door to open and the purple robed, lavender turbaned professor to come out, shut the door with his trembling hands and dodder off down the hall.

With the cloak secured directly around them, Harry and Hermione followed the twitching teacher down the corridor.

They were both expecting him to turn toward the third floor corridor, so you can imagine their surprise when they reached the staircase and went up it instead of down. They also noted that Professor Quirrel's stuttering gait seemed to smoothen out into a long smooth stride.

_Where on earth is he going?_ Hermione wondered.

Her questions was answered a few seconds later when the professor stopped outside the large doors…..of the library.

He hesitated a moment before striding in and letting the doors slam shut behind him. Madam Pince had usually gone down to dinner by this time and so no one would be in the library. Whatever he needed he wanted to be absolutely alone when it happened.

Harry and Hermione exchanged a half second glance before diving in after him.

They followed the Professor's purple robes all the way down to the Restricted Section.

There were a lot of dusty old books in this section and some of them had chains wrapped around them so they wouldn't be read.

Here was where the professor stopped and slowly began to walk down the aisle with the practiced ease of someone who had done this many times before.

_What the bloody hell is he looking for? _Hermione thought.

She and Harry didn't go an inch nearer though for while the cloak would hide them from sight, it wouldn't hide them from sound and the last thing she wanted was to alert Quirrel to their presence.

What followed was a very tense and long wait as the professor walked up and down the aisles, appearing to be in no rush to find whatever he was looking for which told both eleven year olds that this wasn't the first time he had done this.

Finally, after about twenty minutes of standing there and watching him, they followed him to a dusty corner of the restricted section where the lighting was particularly dim and skittered back a step when they saw him reach for a particularly large black book before pulling it.

It was bound with a chain in an x across its front and bound in black leather and silver thread. On its face however was embedded a large white stone shot through with veins of iridescent colors.

The letters decorating the top of the book had the word _Infinitus _spelled out in calligraphy. It was obviously an old book that had been around at least since the twelve century.

Holding it very carefully Quirrel walked with unerring stride back to the table where the lighting was better and Hermione and Harry followed him.

The professor pulled out a chair and sat down placing the book squarely in front of him.

Harry and Hermione exchanged looks and slowly walked to the other side of the table where they were directly in front of Quirrel.

Sure it was a risky move but it was the only way they were going to find out what was going on.

Thankfully the teacher seemed too enthralled by what he was seeing to notice the slight wind that passed over him on his right side.

When he opened the book, clouds of dust rose from its pages and Harry and Hermione held their breath so they wouldn't sneeze.

It was thankful that they didn't because the first words of the first page grabbed Hermione's attention and didn't let go.

_To those seeking knowledge on the matter of Infinite Stones, such things are now thought to be the stuff of myths and legends, yet some believe that they still exist._

_The Infinite Stones existed before man and wizard came to live upon the earth and their origins are unknown. Some say that they were made by the Norse gods who lived among the first galaxies long before the first men were present. Into these creations, they poured power so that whoever might possess them would be able to control the will of others. Before creation itself, there were seven singularities. Then the known universe exploded into existence and the remnants of this system were forged into concentrated ingots. _

_There are seven known stones of immense power tied to different aspects of the universe and the most popular theory was that they were not created by the Norse Gods, but the Cosmic Entities. Each of the stones possesses unique capabilities that have been enhanced and altered by various alien civilizations through the millennia._

_Aliens? _Hermione thought.

_Only beings of immense power can wield the stones such as when the Celestials used the stones to pass judgement on entire planets. Lesser beings are usually unable to grasp the full power of the stones and are destroyed by them when direct contact is made._

_The seven stones have been given the following titles:_

\- **_The Space Stone:_**_This stone allows the user to exist in any and all locations, move any object anywhere throughout reality and warp or rearrange space. At its full potential it grants Omnipresence._

\- **_The Soul Stone:_**_This stone allows the user to steal, control, manipulate and alter souls living or dead. It is the gateway to the idyllic pocket of the universe that is much like heaven. It also has the ability to steal the powers and gifting's of others. The Soul Stone is sentient and has a hunger for souls. It is often considered to be the most dangerous and corrupt of all the gems. Mastery of the gem would allow the user to control all life in the universe._

\- **_The Time Stone:_**_This stone allows the user total control over the past, present and the future. It grants its user visions of possible futures and the ability to see into the past as well as to cease, hasten or slow the flow of time. It allows for travel through time, the power to alter history and the known future. It may also age as well as remove years from the life of a being and finally can be used to trap foes or entire universes in never ending loops of time. When used at its full potential it grants Omniscience. _

\- **_The Mind Stone:_**_This stone allows the user to greatly strengthen and enhance the mental and psionic power and access the thoughts and dreams of other beings. When it is enforced by the Power Stone, the Mind Stone can access all minds in existence simultaneously. It has also been called the manifestation of the universal subconscious._

\- **_The Reality Stone:_**_This stone allows the user to fulfill wishes even if the wish is a direct contradiction of scientific laws and to perform acts that would normally be impossible. The gem can be used to create an alternate reality of any kind. When it is paired with the other stones, it allows one to alter reality on a universal scale. It has been stated to be the most powerful of the stones. It can also allow the user to travel to different realities as well. _

\- **_The Power Stone:_**_The stone has the ability to access all power and energy that ever has or will exist and can enhance the effects of the other gems. It allows the user to duplicate almost any physical superhuman ability and grants near Omnipotence. It also grants the possessor the potential to manipulate all forms of energy for virtually any effect._

\- **_The Sorcerer's Stone:_**_This stone allows its user to access all magic in the known universe and augment its effects tenfold. The mythology behind this stone is not as well-known as the others in that it remove the magical cores of all known magic users and transfer them to the user. It also possesses the ability to create the purest gold as well as the elixir of life which makes the drinker immortal. It is the only known stone to have entered the atmosphere of earth unlike the others which remain lost to space and time. The whereabouts of the Philosopher's Stone is unknown. _

At this particular passage, Quirrel's hand had stopped and he was muttering to himself under his breath.

Hermione leaned closer, hoping to catch what he was saying, but all she got was: "It has to be close by. This must be Dumbledore's little trick. He must know where the stone is."

Hermione exchanged alarmed looks with Harr beneath the cloak. Could this possibly be what was hiding beneath the floor in the third floor corridor?

It would certainly explain Quirrel's near obsession with the place. But the book had stated that mortals usually weren't able to come in direct contact with the stone so how would be go about getting something like that?

_I wonder if my dad knows about this, _Hermione thought absently.

All of a sudden there was a creak on the floorboards and Quirrel's head shot up from the book to look down the aisles.

"W-Who's t-there?" he called out shakily.

Of course there was no answer and so he slammed the books shut, shot to his feet tucking it under his arm and all but flew out of the library.

Harry and Hermione didn't relax until they heard the doors slam shut.

Only then did they remove the cloak and allow themselves to breathe.

"What the bloody hell was that about Mione?" Harry asked as he tried to smooth down his hopelessly matted hair. "What on earth are Infinite Stones?"

Hermione had adopted a grim expression. "I don't know Harry. But whatever they are, Quirrel's connected to one. You saw his face when he saw the Philosopher's Stone, whatever it is. And it might be possible that that's the thing that the Cerberus is guarding in the third floor corridor."

Harry had paled at this realization. "But if that's true than that's incredibly dangerous to be hiding out in a school! Think of what someone could do with something like that!"

"I know," Hermione said grimly. "Which means we need to know more. We have to get our hands on that book."

Ω

Natasha hated parties.

It was bad enough when she was still running interference for the Red Room in Russia, but American parties were even more taxing than Russian ones.

And Tony Stark seemed to have a patent on throwing bad parties.

Everyone else seemed to be having the time of their lives with the music and the dancing and the food and the other guests however.

None more so than Stark himself though because he seemed to be in such high spirits that he had taken out the Iron Man suit and had donned it much as Pepper and Natasha had tried to dissuade him.

He then proceeded to try and dance with all of the girls and dump alcoholic beverages all over his suit which he had Pepper and Natasha clean up.

_This is by far the most degrading job I have ever had, _Natasha thought. _Fury better have a damn good reason for making me do this. _

But that was nothing to what happened later in the evening.

It turned out that while Natasha and Clint were laying low at the farm, Stark had been summoned to court where the government wanted control of his Iron Man suit who was backed by a lawyer and a friend of his, former air force pilot James Rhodes.

As she had known he would do Stark refused them access by kindly telling them where they could shove it and thus began a feud with the United States government.

It had all culminated at the height of the evening when Rhodes himself had shown up in one of Tony's suits.

After getting rid of the guests, Rhodes and Tony proceeded to go through their lame male quips while Pepper grabbed Tasha and the two hid behind the bar.

Pepper was smart but there was no way she was getting in the middle of her boss and his long suffering best friend when the both of them were dressed in weapons of mass destruction.

While Natasha didn't want to hide as the sound of shattering glass and bottles sounded from all around them she also didn't really know what she could do to diffuse the situation. Rhodes was obviously mad at Tony's refusal to help them end wars with his suit, but duking it out with Stark's own creation did insert a little sardonic irony into the situation.

While she didn't care for Stark at all, Natasha did have a job to protect his tech and that was something she couldn't do with her gun. So it forced her to remove her wand from its wrist sheath and cast a spell of protection around both Tony and Rhodey so they didn't permanently damage the suits.

Of course this was diffused when Tony and Rhodey both shot their cannons at each other which caused an explosion to rock through the Miami home nearly shattering its foundations, causing bottles of alcohol to go flying, papers were scattered everywhere, furniture was overturned and there was the acrid stench of smoke in the air.

Tony was lying in a heap on the ground in his suit and Rhodey had disappeared…with all of the other Iron Man suits.

Natasha swore and kicked over an absent wine bottle with the toe of her pump.

_Damn it…..how the hell am I going to explain this to Fury?_

Ω

**Wow guys, I'm really sorry about the two month wait for another chapter. I got a summer job at the end of June which required me to be away from my house for six days a week, so there really wasn't time to write. Point is, I'm back now so you guys can expect the chapters to resume again with their regular frequency. The pace leading down to the end of the school year is going to be a lot faster because there have been some big reveals in this chapter. As always don't forget to review and enjoy!**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29

The mystery of the Infinity Stones puzzled Hermione and her friends for the next two weeks. It was now getting on into March and teachers were starting to prepare for the end of term and they were momentarily distracted by studies.

As frustrating as it was for Hermione to have to put the mystery aside for now, she knew she had to get her priorities straight first.

Studying didn't stop her from brainstorming with her friends about it however while they were studying.

"It seems to me that we just need to break into his office and take it for ourselves," Ron said simply one day in the library while they were going over potions.  
"As hare brained as that is, Weasley might have a point," Draco drawled and the red head rolled his eyes. "After all, it seems unlikely that he's going to return it any time soon."

The relationship between the two had progressed to very civil over the past seven months and Hermione was quite pleased about how well they were getting along.

"And just how do you plan to do that exactly?" Susan demanded. "Breaking into a teacher's office isn't exactly easy you know. They have all kinds of charms and jinxes on the door to prevent that kind of thing. I would know."

Being the niece of the head of the DMLE Susan had learned a few things about breaking and entering and ways that she couldn't be caught.

All theoretical of course. She wasn't a criminal.

"We're getting ahead of ourselves," Harry broke in. "This might not require breaking into his office at all. His office is directly behind the classroom. All we need to do is use the invisibility cloak to sneak into his classroom while he's teaching."

"While he's teaching?" Neville asked looking a little nervous. "Don't you think that's an awfully big gamble to take?"

"And how long are you going to take?" Dudley seconded. "He's going to notice one of us is missing when he calls role and ask where we are."

"Well the Wrackspurts have been pretty nasty during the winter," Luna said thoughtfully. "But I'm sure he knows that being the defense professor and all. We could just say that whoever we picked came down with a virus from one of them and we're in the hospital wing."

The rest of them exchanged glances but Hermione gave a small smile. Luna really was refreshing to be around.

"I think Luna's on to something," Susan said. "Although not the Wrackspurt thing. If one of us simply dropped hints all day about someone being sick and then brought it up when Quirrel asked about it, then I'm sure he wouldn't suspect anything."

"Well then who of us should it be?" Ron asked.

They had been doing a lot of espionage work lately in spite of all the studying but it had been good for everyone particularly Ron.

Hermione could sense that there was a desire to prove himself but he wasn't sure how to do it. Being around a lot of friends had been good for him because he was encouraged in his studies to do his best.

Harry Hermione and Dudley had speculated when they had gone home for Christmas that though Ron had a loving family, he was sometimes overlooked because he had so many siblings.

Hermione had strived after that to encourage him as best as she could. She was an only child and most of her friends had similar situations. Ron was the only one with an enormous family.

"I think it should be Luna," Dudley suggested. "She's the quietest and she's so small Quirrel would be less likely to notice her absence."

"Why thank you Dudley," Luna said beaming. "That's quite a compliment. Being small helps me stay away from the Nargles."

Hermione looked around the table and everyone seemed to be in agreement.

"Alright then," Draco said after a minute when there were no protestations. "So when's a good time for Lovegood to fake sick and sneak in?"

They decided that tomorrow would be the best since the sooner the better and they needed to know what was going on soon.

After dinner that night while Daphne and Tracey were away at their study group Hermione warded the room and called her mom.

"How's it going little girl?" Natasha asked once she had sealed herself inside of her room and made sure that no one was around to hear her.

"I'm fine Mum," Hermione said. "Have you spoken to dad lately?"

"Not in the last three weeks, why?"

"No reason I just wondered when he might be coming next, I kind of miss him."

There was a long silence from the other end of the phone. "You know I wish it didn't have to be this way Mione."

"I know Mum. I know."

There was another moment of silence where the both of them just sat there and listened to the others breathing.

"How's aunt Petunia doing?" Hermione asked finally.

"She's fine. Complaining about how much her feet hurt, but otherwise your uncle is putting up with her. She's due in just under two months so you can imagine how big she is. But don't you dare tell her I said so."

Hermione could hear the teasing tone in her mom's voice and smiled because she knew how much Natasha loved Petunia and Regulus.

"How's working for Mr. Stark?"

There was a pause and then a muffled curse in Russian that Hermione caught right away and smirked.

"That man drives me up the wall more than your father ever did," Natasha ground out. "But don't tell him I said so. He takes great pleasure in knowing he can make me crazy."

Hermione chuckled. "Is Stark that bad?"

"Vozlyublennaya," Natasha said which was the Russian word for sweetheart. "He is worse. He is a child. Granted an intellectually brilliant child but he has no sense of social grace, he believes the world exists to serve him and his plans are the only ones that matter. And his CEO has told me that he has become even more erratic lately than he ever has before."

"Well then maybe you need to find out what's causing that erratic behaviour," Hermione suggested. "If he's never acted like this before than perhaps there's something serious going on in his personal life that even Pepper doesn't know about."

She knew all about the woman who kept Stark Tech going because without her Stark himself would be bankrupt. She handled all of his meetings and business partnerships as well as trips to the warehouses he had all throughout the country.

"Maybe," Natasha said reluctantly. "But let me tell you what he did a few weeks ago that was just the most irresponsible thing I have ever seen."

She described to Hermione in detail about the party and even the strawberry blonde had to admit that that sounded like a disaster.

"So all of his suits are gone?" she asked. "The colonel just took them?"

"The ones that Pepper and I didn't pack away first before the party," Natasha grumbled. "Stark is completely devoid of common sense and reason and he's toying with war and political conflict if he doesn't make a decision and stick to it."

"Wasn't the decision to not hand over his tech to the government?" Hermione asked. "He seemed to make that pretty clear in court when you and Clint were stuck on the farm."

"In between the slurs, the condescension and the serious pathological narcissism I suppose that was the gist of it yes."

Hermione smirked at the phone. "You really don't like him do you?"

"I respect the man's brains because he is brilliant, but it has made his ego the size of the Milky Way and given him the common sense of a poodle."

Hermione burst out laughing and then had to cover her mouth to make sure that no one was around to hear her.

"But enough about me little girl, how's school?"

Hermione chewed on the inside of her lip and wondered how much to tell her mother. She wasn't exactly in danger per say but that didn't really mean anything when it came to Natasha. Quirrel was presenting an interesting player in the game that was going on in the castle, but at the moment all that Hermione was doing was spying.

So with that thought in mind, she smiled into the phone and said. "Not much. School has been keeping me very busy and my friends have been keeping me even busier."

It was the truth. With all of the changing dynamics in her friend group it was hard to keep everyone's personalities straight sometimes. Draco was borderline narcissistic but he was very loyal. Susan was fierce and diplomatic, just like her aunt. Neville was the voice of reason and the most practical. Dudley was the most reliable and dependable. Harry had an insane amount of wits and knew how to use them. Ron was the one who knew how to make everyone laugh and release the tension in a situation. And Luna was the whimsical dreamer who challenged them all to think outside the box.

They all had strengths and weakness but Hermione that that was made them all special and work together so well.

"Good," Natasha said. "At least you're staying out of trouble. I can't even imagine the amount that Stark's going to be in when Fury gets a hold of him."

"How is the infamous director anyway?" Hermione said with a smirk. She knew her mother appreciated the no nonsense way the man ran SHIELD but at the same time that left no room for failure because he had such a non-existent margin for error.

Not that Natasha ever made mistakes that was.

"As surly as ever," the red head replied. "He's been a bit meaner lately but that's only because Stark's been giving us the go around."

"He still want Stark's tech for that initiative he's been working on?" Hermione asked.

Her mother had told her all about this strange new plan of Fury's that he had been very tight lipped about.

All Natasha knew was that it was a defence initiative and that Fury was being very choosy about who he allowed to be part of it. She knew he was sniffing around her and Clint as they were the best agents he had but if he was also wanting to recruit Stark for the task, than she'd be running for the door faster than anyone could say Iron Man.

"Yes, although with the way things have been going, I wouldn't be surprised if Stark's file is swept off the table and burned by June."

"Do you think Dad will be back soon?" Hermione asked finally and she could practically hear her mother's frown over the phone.  
"I don't know little girl. Do you need to speak with him? Is it urgent?"

"No," Hermione hurried to reassure her mother. "There was just something I wanted to ask him about Asgard and Uncle Loki."  
That was partially true.  
"Alright then, I'm sure he'll be back soon so you can ask him your questions. You're staying out of trouble yes?"

Hermione gave her an affirmative and after a few more moments of conversation about relatively normal things, the two rang off.

Hermione let the phone drop back onto her pillow and eyed it for a moment, wondering whether or not she should tell her mother what she had discovered about Infinity Stones. The truth was, she was unsure if her mum would even know what they were but her father who was in fact a god was bound to know something.

_Dad where are you? _She thought as she leaned back on her bed. _I really need to talk to you. I have a feeling if I don't ask you these questions, I'm going to regret it._

Ω

The following day, the Slytherins had defence with the Ravenclaws while the Gryffindors were in Herbology with the Hufflepuffs.

That morning at breakfast, Luna had slipped down to the Slytherin dorms with Harry who had given her the invisibility cloak. After that and some complicated spell work later,

Hermione had cast an "ailment" upon her friend. It looked like Muggle chicken pox, but to Madam Pomphrey it would look similar to Dragon Pox which would keep her in quarantine all day.

Before going to the hospital wing because she was supposed to be feeling unwell, Luna would steal up to Quirrel's office and make a duplicate of the book on the book of Infinity Stones. There was no sense in alerting Quirrel to the fact that someone was watching him by taking the whole book, so they employed stealth.

Hermione had discovered a complicated spell in the library on how to duplicate items and had spent weeks practicing it before it became useful.

This way their questions would be answered and Quirrel would be none the wiser to the fact that they were spying on him.

Just as they entered the class Dudley made the comment to Draco that he hoped Luna was feeling better soon because Dragon Pox was no joke.

Draco agreed and said perhaps they should visit her in the hospital wing after dinner.

This was said as Quirrel doddered down the steps from his office above the classroom and began the lecture with his usual stutter.

But just before the door to his office closed, Hermione saw it prolong a moment longer on its way shut before it clicked into the lock and she grinned.  
Luna was in.

After that it was simply a matter of playing their parts and behaving as if they knew nothing more than Quirrel did for the rest of the class.

Hermione didn't look at his office door for the next hour and pretended to simply be the dutiful student who didn't notice that her teacher was an incompetent drooling moron with a perpetual stutter.

Did she mention that she didn't like him very much?

The bell rang finally, signalling the end of class and Hermione gathered up her books, not having taken a single note.

She had discovered during the first two weeks of school in September that nothing that Quirrel said had any basis in fact and many of the details that he had told them overlapped with other details he had said previously.

She and her friends congregated out in the hall and began to slowly walk down it towards the Great Hall where dinner was waiting for them.

As soon as they entered the room, Ron and Neville who were sitting at the Gryffindor table with Susan waved them over.

"How did it go?" Ron whispered.

"Way to keep it subtle Weasley," Draco drawled raising an eyebrow as he sat down. "The book should be up in Ravenclaw Tower and we'll get it sometime soon, while Lovegood is in the hospital pretending to have Dragon Pox. Pomphrey will keep her there all night no doubt."

"And Quirrel didn't suspect a thing?" Susan asked quietly.

Draco cast a hand up to the high table where the purple turbaned professor was twitching as he sat down. "Look at the man, he's afraid of his own shadow, do you honestly think he noticed anything other than the students in his room to whom he was butchering a lecture on werewolves?"

Neville pursed his lips. "Probably not."

"I was thinking after dinner we should go see Hagrid," Harry broke in suddenly and they all paused in their dinners to look at him.

"Whatever for mate?" Dudley asked. "I mean I like the big guy almost as much as the next person but how is this going to help us figure out what's going on here?

In answer to his cousin's question, Harry reached into his book bag and dug out an old newspaper article from back in September.

Hermione knew instantly what it was. It hadn't made much sense to her at the time, but now it was one more piece in a never ending puzzle they were trying to solve.

"I remember this," Neville said softly. "That was the day I went to Diagon Alley to get my school things. Gran was sick that day so she asked one of the teachers from Hogwarts to take me. And Hagrid showed up."

Instantly he had everyone's attention.

"Keep going Neville," Hermione prompted.

The brown haired boy blushed a little but continued. "We went first to Gringotts because Hagrid said he had an errand to run for professor Dumbledore. We went deep underground to vault seven hundred and thirteen and Hagrid told me to stay in the cart while the goblin opened the door. I remember being surprised that the vault was empty except for one small package that had been lying on the floor wrapped in brown paper and twine. He put it in his pocket and got back in the cart. And then we went back outside.

"I remember it because I read in the paper a few days later that Gringotts had been broken into and thought it strange. But I never asked Hagrid about it again."

"And this package was for professor Dumbledore?" Ron asked again.

"Yes."

"You know?" Susan said thoughtfully. "Maybe we do need to go see Hagrid after all. He might be able to tell us things that we haven't learned so far. He might be closer to this than we know."

Plans decided, the group of first years hurriedly finished their dinner and departed the great hall at a speed.

It was March so it was still pretty cool outside and the ground was slightly muddy from the recent snow, but they made the best of it and tried to hurry as the left the castle and hurried down towards the Forbidden Forest where the gamekeeper's enormous hut was.

There was smoke coming out of the chimney in the thatched roof and the smell of cooking sausages made some of the children's mouth's water even though they had already eaten.

As they neared the hut the sound of deep throaty barking could be heard as Hagrid's enormous boar hound picked up their scent.

"Back Fang! Back!" the gamekeeper called out as they neared the door.

There was a rough scraping sound as the half giant pulled the door back and loomed in the doorway with the light of the candle at his back.

"There ya are?" he said when he saw them in their cloaks standing at the door. "I was wondering when ya were going to come. I saw ya coming from the castle. Come in, come in."  
He stepped back and pulled the door farther open allowing them to come in.  
Hermione liked Hagrid a great deal, he was a simple and honest man and had an honest living but his hut had very little ventilation so it was always smoky.

Today was no exception.

There was a large table and chairs sitting in the middle of the room and an enormous bed off to the side directly opposite the door. There was a kitchenette of sorts to the left side of the hut and an enormous fireplace to the right.

The chairs were so big that the six first years could sit two to a chair. Harry and Susan piled onto one, Hermione and Draco onto another and Ron and Neville on the last.

Hagrid bustled around the kitchen pouring tea and setting a plate of rock cakes on the table which all of them were smart enough now not to eat.

Turned out he knew something the rest of them didn't though because when he picked up the rock cake, he tapped it with his wand and muttered something before taking a bite.

This time there was no cracking sound.

Hermione realized quickly that Ron had created his own spell to soften objects.  
"Ron that's bloody brilliant," she hissed. "How did you come up with that?"

Ron shrugged, the tips of his ears turning red. "I was bored one day."

Draco rolled his eyes. "That spell could come in handy Weasley, don't forget it."

"What's that?"

They all turned at the sound of Neville's voice.  
The brown haired Gryffindor was looking towards the flames of Hagrid's enormous fire and as Hermione looked there too she also perceived something sitting among the embers.

It was large and oblong shaped and for a moment she thought with a start that it was an Infinity Stone.

It was a deep green color but had peculiar ridges along the outside of it that made it seem as if it were scaled.  
"Oh that?" Hagrid said looking up from the pot of tea he had placed on the table. "That's nothing. I won it at a game in the Hogs Head tavern last night."

He seemed a little uncomfortable that they had seen it so that made Hermione all the more curious.  
When he turned back around to get more cups, she slid off her chair and hurried toward the fire, stopping at the hearth to kneel down and look more closely at the object in the fire. Seeing what she was doing, Ron slid off his chair and joined her.

"I know what that is now," he whispered quietly to her. "It's a dragon egg. My brother Charlie works at a reserve for them in Romania and he handles the eggs and all the young dragons."

He turned to the gamekeeper whose back was to them at the kitchen. "Hagrid who sold a dragon egg to you?"

Hagrid started as if he hadn't been expecting them to figure it out. "Wha do ya mean? Tha's not a dragon egg! Tha's – "

"Oh come off it," Draco snapped as he slid down from his chair and walked over to Hermione and Ron to examine the egg. "I'm willing to bet my life that's a dragon egg."  
"Hagrid you know it's illegal to raise a dragon in Scotland right?" Harry asked. "They'll come and take him away because he'll be a danger to the surrounding area."

"He's not a danger!" Hagrid protested.

All of a sudden, there was a popping sound as if someone were making enormous popcorn and all the first years turned to look at the egg in the fire and saw that there were two large cracks sprouting from its center.

"It's ready!" Hagrid exclaimed.

With a pair of enormous tongs from the oven, he bustled over to the fire and picked up the egg before putting it in a large plate on the kitchen table.

The egg continued to crack and the six eleven year olds watched in fascination as the egg shells dropped to the table surface and the milky white membrane appeared underneath where a creature pulsed.

Finally the membrane tore and the small dewy head of a baby dragon appeared. It was a deep color and about as long as Hermione's forearm excluding its tail.

As they all watched in wonderment, the baby dragon cleared the remains of the egg and awkwardly attempted to lift its wings.

"It's beautiful!" Hagrid said wiping a tear from his eyes.

"It might be beautiful, but there's no way you can keep it here Hagrid," Susan explained patiently. "Keeping a dragon in this country is illegal like Harry said. You should see if there are any reserves around here that it can go to."

"But it's too little to leave," Hagrid protested, looking as if he were going to cry again. "He'll die out there."

All of a sudden, the baby dragon seemed to expand and then shot out a jet of flame which caused them all to duck. The fireball flew over their heads and hit one of Hagrid's frying pans. The gamekeeper quickly put it out with a cup of water.  
"Well I think you'll have to worry more about dying in here if he keeps doing that," Draco drawled.

"Hagrid?" Ron broke in because it looked like the half giant was going to start bawling again. "I have a brother who works on a dragon reserve in Romania. He'd be glad to take the dragon. But we should give him a name first so they can tag him along with the others."  
Hagrid sniffed and wiped his eyes. "Norbert. I'll call him Norbert because he's a Norwegian Ridgeback."

Hermione exchanged glances with Susan who looked like she was trying not to laugh.

"Alright then," she said. "Norbert it is. Ron how long do you think it'll take to get your brother out here?"

Ω

Needless to say they didn't learn anything from the gamekeeper that day on account of the baby dragon trying to light his hut on fire, but the day wasn't a total loss because of what happened later that day.

Susan and Hermione were coming from the library and were about to head up to the hospital wing to see a "sick Luna," when all of a sudden they heard voices coming up the corridor toward them.

Upon hearing that it was in fact Professor Dumbledore and Minerva McGonagall, Hermione remembered what Neville had said earlier about Hagrid running the errand for Professor Dumbledore and she paused in the hallway grabbing Susan's arm to stop her.

"Are you sure it's safe Dumbledore?"

Hermione realized they were coming up the wall towards her and she yanked Susan behind one of the many suits of armor that were stationed throughout the hall.  
"What are you doing?" Susan demanded in a whisper before Hermione clamped a hand over her mouth and stuck a hand over her own lips in the universal gesture for silence.

"My dear, I am not sure of anything anymore," Dumbledore replied and their voices became louder as they walked slowly up the wall. "I was sure the stone would be safe in Gringotts but time has proven that point null and void. Nicholas cannot take it back as I have asked him and the knowledge of its true origins must remain a secret. No one must know its true origins."

Hermione's eyes went enormous and she didn't readily lose her cool.

_The stone? _She thought. _An Infinity Stone? Is that what Dumbledore's hiding in the third floor corridor? _

She anxiously searched back in her memory for what she and Harry had learned about the Infinity Stones earlier in the library. There had been a stone which had entered the world's atmosphere and had never been found. Now which one had it been?

Susan's eyes had gone wide upon hearing the word stone as well and she looked like she wanted to talk. Hermione shook her head violently and held her breath as the footsteps of the headmaster and deputy head neared.

She could see their shadows on the wall elongate as they came nearer in the light of the candles and they didn't speak again until they were so close that Hermione could tell that they were right in front of the suit of armor.

"But have there been any attempts?" Minerva demanded. "Severus did say that one time several months ago on the night the troll came into the castle that he found Professor Quirrel in the third floor corridor. You don't think he would attempt to steal the stone do you?"

"Minerva my dear I make no promises and I will not reassure you that everything is perfectly safe. But I can tell you that the protections I have placed around the stone have been tested by Nicholas himself. It is as safe as it is going to be."

"Very well Albus, I hope you know what you're doing."

"My dear, these are dangerous times. You and I both know that our quarry is not dead and there are no safe days anymore."

They moved off down the wall and Hermione waited a full ten seconds before emerging and letting out a breath.

Susan tumbled out behind her looking like she was going to explode and she had just opened her mouth to do so when Hermione shook her head.

"Not here," she hissed. "There aren't any portraits around here but there could be anywhere nearby. We're meeting everyone in the hospital wing and we'll talk there."

In really she felt like she was going to explode too but she took a few deep breaths to contain herself as they walked up to the hospital wing.

But in reality, these were her thoughts on the way to the hospital wing.

_There's an Infinity Stone in Hogwarts….there's an Infinity Stone in Hogwarts…..there's an Infinity Stone in Hogwarts!_

It couldn't be possible but it was and Dumbledore himself had said it. Sure he hadn't specifically said the name of the stone but what else could it be?

Hermione also had a feeling she knew which stone it was because there had only been one stone on the list that had entered the earth's atmosphere but had never been found.

It was the Philosopher's Stone.  
It was the Philosopher's Stone inside of Hogwarts and that meant the stakes had just risen a million times higher because of how powerful and dangerous this stone was.

Granted the Stones were all powerful and dangerous but even having one of them in proximity to her was a hazardous thing.

At first Hermione was wracking her brains as to why Dumbledore would keep something like that in a school that people would potentially be after but then she had a moment of clarity on the way to the hospital wing.

_If this stone is that powerful than there's no way that people wouldn't try to use it for greedy ends if they knew it exists. It sounds as if the headmaster has tried other options and they haven't worked. And if someone has broken into Gringotts to try and steal it then obviously someone knows about it. _

At that point they reached the hospital wing and Hermione was too lost in thought about the knowledge that there was an Infinity Stone inside of Hogwarts to really talk so she let Susan do the honors and needless to say everyone else had a lot of input.

"What….the bloody hell are they thinking keeping something like that locked up in a school?" Ron burst out when Susan was through and Neville hurriedly shushed him.

"If it is the philosopher's stone than we're in trouble," Harry mused. "That thing has the power to remove the magical core of every magical being in its vicinity and transfer it to the person who's using the stone.

"We're overthinking things," Draco said suddenly and everyone turned to him incredulous.

"What the bloody hell are you talking about mate?" Dudley demanded. "If anything, I think we're under thinking things."

Draco shook his head. "Don't you remember what Potter and Granger saw in the book? Only a powerful being can use the stone. I'm guessing that the cosmic entities that they talked about were gods so only gods or people who have the power of gods can use it. Lesser beings can't use them and typically burn to ash when they've tried in the past."

There was a moment of silence from all those gathered and Hermione felt her tension abate somewhat.

"I suppose that's true," Neville replied. "But if someone's after the stone they aren't likely to know that and die in the process?"

"Do you think it's Quirrel?" Hermione said suddenly and they all turned to look at her. "I mean it makes sense doesn't it? The way he's been acting all year I mean?"

Now that raised a lot of questions about Quirrel's motives involving the stone if he in fact knew what it was at all.  
"Surely he wouldn't be going after it if he knew what it was capable of doing to him," Susan argued.

"He probably doesn't know," Harry replied. "Have you seen the man? He has the attention span of a squirrel and the only thing he's thinking about is whether or not he can use the stone to turn all of his possessions into gold like King Midas. He probably has no clue about what it could do to him."

"But that makes him seem like a total idiot," Draco responded. "I mean the book said that lesser beings like us can't wield the stone and would burn up with they tried. What does makes Quirrel think that's any different than any one of us for example? How is he not a lesser being?"

At this philosophical but pressing question they all fell silent and in truth, Hermione was stumped.

What did Quirrel know that they didn't?

"This needs some more looking into." Hermione mused. "If Quirrel's on the same wave length we are and he knows that what's buried in the third floor is an Infinity Stone and yet he still plans to go after it for whatever reason than there's still a piece of this puzzle missing."

They sat in silence around Luna's bed where she was reading her copy of the book on Infinity Stones.

"Maybe his definition of a lesser being is skewed," the tiny blonde said finally and all looked to her in confusion.

"What do you mean Luna?" Susan asked.

"I mean that if Quirrel knows that there is no way to pick up the stone without being burned to ash by it than he must have some other way of doing it that we don't know about. Perhaps he is not human at all."

The six first years gave each other concerned looks. It was bad enough that they were dealing with a teacher with a desire for gold and eternal life, but if that teacher was also in fact not human…..

"We need to double our efforts," Hermione said giving voice to everyone's thoughts. "And I think it's time that we tell one of the teachers that we know. They might be able to do something to prevent Quirrel from getting the stone."

There were more uneasy looks all around because confessing meant that they would need to bring everything they had investigated to light since September.

It was worth the risk to keep everyone in this castle out of harms way because there was no telling what Quirrel would do if he got his hands on the stone.  
"We'll tell Professor McGonagall," Neville volunteered looking at himself and Ron. "She's the deputy head mistress. She'll know what to do."

Unfortunately, another week went by and all was silent.

Ron and Neville came down to breakfast a few days later and told their friends that they had told McGonagall who although astonished at their knowledge of the stone had said she would take their concerns to Dumbledore.

A few days later however it seemed that their worries were exacerbated when it was announced that Professor Quirrel had gone missing and that Professor Snape would be taking over the Defence lessons for the remainder of the term.

Hermione locked eyes with Susan and Luna from the Slytherin table and they all exchanged a grim look.

If Quirrel were gone than that meant that he must have known that they were getting close. If he knew that they knew than the stakes had just been raised.

Unfortunately however, there was nothing they could have done about it because the man of interest had disappeared.

An uneasy quiet descended upon the castle in the final months of school before the summer. Hermione and her friends studied, went to class and generally kept to themselves sometimes exchanging words in whispers about where they thought Quirrel was.

No answers were ever given though because no one knew.

And that was what bothered Hermione the most.

Ω

Natasha had reached her wits end.

After the disaster of a party a few weeks earlier, she had gone to Fury and threatened to quit if he didn't tell her what was so important about having Stark's tech. Surely there were millions of other brilliant engineers in the world with even temperaments unlike Ivan Vanko that they could use.

He had sat in his office while she paced and waited until she had finished what she needed to say.

It was then that he told her about the Avengers Initiative, a group of highly trained special individuals he had been putting together to deal with the international threats that the world was facing.

It seemed like an intergalactic rock band to Natasha full of men who were too busy flexing their cosmic and physical muscles to get anything done.

Kind of like Congress.

But then he had told her that he wanted her to be a member of the group and she shut right up in surprise.

At least now she understood him a little better.  
It didn't make her happy about her current situation though.

She was currently standing in the back room of a doughnut shop conferring with Coulson on her phone while keeping an eye on Fury and Stark who were sitting in the booth talking.

"I told you, I don't want to join your super-secret boy band," Tony was saying and Natasha rolled her eyes.

Fury sat back in the booth and folded his arms across his chest as if he had all the time in the world. "No, no. See now I remember….you do everything yourself. How's that working out for you?"

Tony paused. His eyes were unfocused as if he were just coming down off of a high of ecstasy and he looked even more ridiculous given that he was still wearing his suit without the mask of course and a pair of sunglasses on his face as if he were still suffering from a hangover.

"It's…It's….I'm sorry. I don't want to get off on the wrong foot. Do I look at the patch or the eye? Honestly I'm a bit hung over. I'm not sure if you're real or if I'm having – "

_Classy Stark, real classy._

"Oh I'm real," Fury said in that no nonsense tone of his after he took a sip of his coffee. "I'm the realest person you're ever gonna meet."

Tony sighed. "Just my luck. Where's the staff here?"

Fury meanwhile was looking at his neck and the cross world puzzle of shiny veins that were standing out in the skin. It honestly looked as if Stark was being slowly poisoned and the hangover effects were just a symptom of it.

"That's not looking so good," he said and Natasha stifled the urge to snort as she kept one ear on Coulson and one ear on Fury.

Stark was still looking around as if he expected one of the waitresses to pop out and serve him at any moment.

Natasha took that as her cue.

She ended her call with Coulson and strode calmly out into the dining area and up to the booth. "We've secured the perimeter but I don't think we should hold it for too much longer."

It was one of those rare moments when she wished she had a camera.

Even hungover and completely out of it, when Stark looked up at her he had the decency to be surprised.

He pulled down his sunglasses and gave her the once over, probably seeing her for the first time in not a blouse and pants suit but a dark blue leather uniform with the eagle of SHIELD emblazoned on her shoulder. There were two gun holsters strapped to her right and left thighs and bullet casings wrapped around her wrists.

She probably looked vastly different to him, almost as if she were wearing a Halloween costume.

"Huh," he said while Fury smirked. "You're…..fired."

Natasha suppressed the urge to roll her eyes and sat down. "That's not up to you."

Fury put one arm around her. "Tony I want you to meet Agent Romanov."

"I'm a SHIELD shadow agent. Once we knew you were ill I was tasked to you by Director Fury," Natasha supplied.

If possible, Tony looked even more drunk as he tried to take all of this in. He took off his sunglasses and was leaning on his fist against the table watching her. "I suggest you apologize."

Natasha ignored him and simply raised an eyebrow while Fury got back down to business.

"You've been real busy," he said. "You made Potts your CEO, you're giving away all your stuff. You even let your friend fly away with your suit! Now if I didn't know better – "

"You don't know better," Tony interrupted. "I didn't give it to him, he took it."

Natasha had never seen Fury incredulous but she would make a mental note not to make it happen too often.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. He took it? You're Iron Man and he just….took it? The little brother walked in there, kicked your ass and took your suit?"

He glanced at Natasha. "Is that possible?"

Natasha hadn't taken her eyes off of Tony. He just looked really bad. "Well according to Mr. Stark's database security guidelines, there are redundancies to prevent unauthorized usage."

She wasn't lying, she had seen them herself.

Fury turned back to Tony and spread his hands as if waiting for Stark to give him a better answer.

Stark seemed to be all out of them.

"What do you want from me?" he asked.

"What do we want from you?" Fury asked as if it were some sort of joke. "Uh uh, what do you want from me?"

He paused here and pointed at Stark as if he were a child. "You have become a problem, a problem that I now have to deal with."

He snapped his fingers and Natasha got up knowing what it was that he wanted.

Stark meanwhile had rested his head on his fist, eyes half closed as if he were a petulant teenager listening to his parent give a lecture. Thankfully he didn't put his sunglasses back on.

Natasha smirked as she went to the counter of the empty doughnut shop and retrieved the suitcase from behind it.

"Contrary to what you might think, you are not the center of my universe. I have bigger problems than you in the world to deal with." Fury went on and Natasha prepped the needle and walked back to the table just in time for Fury to say: "Hit him."

Natasha stuck the needle into the side of Stark's neck and dispensed the lithium dioxide.

The effects were instantaneous.

Stark jumped and jerked his head from his hand, suddenly completely aware with whatever hangover he had possessed gone. "Oh God! What are you trying to do to me? Take my kidney and sell it?"

Natasha ignored him and turned his face toward her so she could see his neck. The effects of the solution were as instantaneous as his response. The complicated cross puzzle of silver veins in his neck began to diminish as if they were tubes being emptied.

"What did we do _for _you?" Fury corrected him. "That's lithium dioxide, it's going to take the edge off. We're trying to get you back to work."

"Yeah, well give me a couple of boxes of that and I'll be right as rain," Stark replied.

"It's not a cure," Natasha returned. "It just abates the symptoms."

Fury leaned forward, taking command of the conversation once more. "Doesn't look like it's going to be an easy fix."

For the first time since he walked into the doughnut shop, Stark looked like he was actually being serious. "Trust me, I know I'm good at this stuff. I've been looking for a suitable replacement for pladium. I've tried every combination….every permutation of every known element."

Fury leaned forward on the table. "Well I'm here to tell you that you haven't tried them all."

Ω

Even though her mother and her conversed every week, Hermione didn't see her father often so whenever he was with her, she was going to enjoy it despite the fact that she knew he couldn't stay long.

Currently the two of them were out in the Forbidden Forest as it was the only time they could be alone and he wouldn't be seen.

He was testing her proficiency with her blades again and Hermione was very glad for it. It wasn't that she needed the practice it was that she was getting tired of doing it alone and though Harry and Dudley were decent at martial arts they had had nowhere near the training that she had had from both her mother and her father.

"A Cerberus?" Thor asked as he swung at her head and Hermione numbly ducked under it. "There is a Cerberus in the castle?"

Hermione nodded. "It's been there since the beginning of the year. I think it's guarding something but it isn't allowed to leave the room because there is a chain around its ankle with what appears to be ancient runes that prevent it from escaping."

Thor frowned. It wasn't common to find a Cerberus on Midgard and so the magicals must have had more access to them than the mortals did.

Still though, it was odd to find one now especially in a school. Scotland and North Western Europe had been the primary place of worship for the Norse gods thousands of years ago and they would often hold festivals to Odin and himself and his mother and brother.

"You haven't tried to engage the creature have you?" he asked and was relieved when Hermione shook her head.

They continued sparring for a few more minutes until Hermione decided to raise the most pressing question on her mind.

"Dad….is…..is there a way to tame a Cerberus?"

Thor paused mid swing. "None that I know of. Hela perhaps would know, but other than that none can say. Why do you ask little spark?"

Hermione wondered if she should tell him what she suspected the Cerberus was guarding and decided she was going to have to go about this a bit more carefully than she thought.

"I was just curious," she said and they continued sparring for a few moments longer both of them having fallen silent.

After a while of repeated blows, Hermione decided she was going to ask her most pressing question yet.

"Dad? What are Infinity Stones?"

In all of her life, the strawberry blonde had never seen her father surprised but now he nearly dropped Mjolnir from his shock.

He looked up at her, his face growing hard. "Where did you hear of such things little spark?"

Hermione decided that she had better tell the truth as it was the only way she was going to get anywhere with the god.

"Harry and I found a book about it in the library," she said which was the truth. "We didn't really know what they were and it was an old book. Something told me you would know."

Thor sighed and to her surprise looked more tired than she would have expected. "Little spark the Infinity Stones are seven objects of immense power that were created by the cosmic entities thousands of year before Asgard came into being. Their names and color vary but their general order is thus: The Space Stone is purple and grants the ability to travel through space using teleportation and it can interfere with the motion of other objects.

"The Mind Stone grants near limitless psychic abilities using empathy, telepathy and telekinesis.

"The Soul Stone is green and grants the ability to observe, attack or even steal a beings soul or spirit, it is the most corrupt of the Infinity Stones.

"The Reality Stone is yellow and can alter all reality; simialr to the effects of what is known as a Cosmic Cube but much more powerful.

"The Time Stone is orange and grants the ability to travel through time, slow it down, speed it up or reduce aging.

"The Power Stone is red and increases strength and durability and enhances any ability that the bearer of it has."

"And finally there is the Sorcerer's stone which is white. It is said that this stone has the ability to remove the magic of all the beings in the known universe and transfer it to the user of the stone. It can also produce a liquid that grants eternal life."

Hermione had gone cold from the knowledge her father was imparting but she knew there was no way she could let him find out that this had rattled her because he was watching her closely.

"Do you happen to know where the Infinity Stones are?" she asked slowly.

"No one knows," he said. "They've been lost to space and time for the last several thousand years. They emerge every few millennia or so but they always disappear again as they can never belong strictly to one being. Plus there are very few that can wield them only beings of immense power can do so."

Now came the most pressing question.

"Is there a way that a person, a mortal for example could carry an Infinity Stone?" Hermione asked, hoping against hope that he wouldn't suspect anything.

Thor gave her a long look. "I have never heard of a mortal being able to do so. But then the only mortals who ever tried to hold one of the stones centuries ago did do alone.

Now if there were someone helping them, perhaps touching the person who had taken hold of the stone than they might be able to hold onto the stone but for how long I do not know."

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Why so many questions little spark? Do you believe that there is an Infinity Stone nearby?"

It took every ounce of her mother's training for Hermione to keep a straight face. "No…but after reading the book on them I began to wonder if I could perhaps wield one…..we don't really know if mortal or immortal right?"

Thor's entire face darkened and Hermione wondered for a moment if she had gone too far.

"Little spark," he said and she got the feeling that he had thought about this many times before. "That is something we will not talk about until we reach your majority in seven years."

"So once I'm eighteen we'll know if I'm immortal or not?" Hermione mused to herself. Then she frowned. "What if I'm not?"

Thor tried to smile but it came out more like a grimace. He bent down and kissed the top of her head. "Do not worry little spark, should that happen there are plans I have put in place."

Ω

"He's got an accomplice."

Everyone looked up from studying at the library table when Hermione slapped her hands down on it.

"What are you talking about?" Susan asked.

"I mean, Quirrel has someone helping him. Think about it, if he knows that he could burn to ash when he tries to pick up the stone than he's going to need someone to help him."

"But who would do that?" Neville asked. "I can't imagine someone in the castle helping him steal the stone."

"Then it has to be someone from outside this place that knows about it," Draco reasoned.

"Exactly."

"So then what the bloody hell do we do?" Ron asked ever the eloquent one.

"I don't know, but something tells me this is bigger than us now," Dudley put in.

Luna looked at Hermione carefully. She knew the strawberry blonde was hiding something but now in front of all of their friends, she decided not to press.

From the first time they had met, both the two girls had noticed that there was an instant connection between them, they just seemed to get along so well and neither of them knew why. There was a magnetic energy between them that made them gravitate toward each other.

Both Hermione and Luna didn't know that they were cousins though their father's knew of the other child's existence. Thor knew about Luna and Pandora and Loki knew about

Hermione and Natasha. Both gods had deemed it necessary to leave their children ignorant of it for the time being however for both of their safety.

There was a time coming soon when both of them would learn of it however and things would be set in motion that no one would be able to account for.

"So we get back to detective work?" Luna asked her unknown cousin.

"We bust this case wide open," Hermione finished grimly.

Ω

**So next chapter is when things kick into high gear and all hell breaks loose. It's also going to be the last chapter of Hermione's first year and then we get into the exciting stuff I have planned for year two. Don't forget to review and enjoy!**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30

The uneasy silence in the castle continued for the next few weeks and though Hermione did her best to continued preparing for finals, she couldn't help but think that though

Quirrel had disappeared, he wasn't gone.

He would be back.

Quirrel wasn't just some stuttering stammering idiot he had a sharp intelligence and he would put that to good use before all of this was over.

In the meantime, Snape had taken over their defence lessons which none of the Slytherins minded but which made Neville and Ron nervous.

Hermione could understand why. Her professor was not the sort of man to favor anyone but the Slytherins but that didn't mean that he wasn't fair.

He had hated Harry on sight from the first day of the term when Harry stepped into the potions classroom, but having been prepared for it Harry had known just what to do to get on the professor's good side. And now he had Snape's grudging respect.

The air around the castle had become thick with tension and Hermione was having a hard time focusing strictly because there seemed to be so much and yet so little to focus on.

She wrote letter after letter to her mother who replied as often as she was able however it seemed that her mother was more preoccupied with helping Mr. Stark against the government and preventing him from getting killed by Ivan Vanko who had a grudge against Stark for the death of his father.

She also learned that due to the corrosion of platium in his arc reactor, Mr. Stark was dying but due to an injection from lithium dioxide he was back to work and coming up with ways to stop the mad scientist.

_I wish I was having as much luck figuring out what's going on, _Hermione thought glumly to herself.

April rolled around and Quidditch matches were frequented with increasing vigor by the seven different friends.

Hermione however barely paid attention to the matches as she was concerned for her mother, wondering whether or not what was buried in the third floor corridor was actually an Infinity Stone and if it was then was she a complete bloody idiot for not telling her father about it?

_It's too late now, _she thought grimly one afternoon in early spring while the small group of friends sat down near the Black Lake studying. _But this curiosity is eating me alive and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that Quirrel will be back. _

"You look pensive Mione," Luna noted. "Are the Nargles bothering you again? Perhaps you need a moonstone bracelet too."

Hermione gave her friend a grim smile. "I don't think it's the Nargles this time Luna. I think there's something in particular that's bothering me and it's not going to be solved with a moon bracelet."

"Granger, I don't know why you're still stressing about this," Draco drawled. "Quirrel's gone, and whatever strange power he had he took with him and the castle's calm again, so can we finally enjoy some peace and quiet?"

It wouldn't be that way for long.

Ω

_Finally the man is using his brain for something other than partying and women, _Natasha thought to herself.

Stark had finally gotten his ass in gear and found a suitable replacement for palladium.

She hadn't been there when Fury had imparted this to Stark but he had told her after what had been said.

Howard Stark had been a SHIELD founder and Fury had known him personally.

Vanko's father and Howard had jointly invented the arc reactor but when Anton Vanko had tried to sell it for a profit, Howard had had him deported back to Russia. From the Soviets had sent him to the gulag.

Thus the reason for this team up and the desire for revenge at the Monaco racing track months earlier.

Stark had finally realized the danger of having more Iron Man technology running around that would potentially cause the destruction of countries and smartened up.

And just in time too.

Currently she was sitting next to Pepper Potts at a presentation for Hammer Advanced and Stark's rival, Justin Hammer was about to unleash the new product he had been working with Ivan Vanko to create.

Of course no one knew that when Hammer had faked Vanko's death and broken him out of prison but SHIELD. And they still weren't entirely sure where he was. Natasha had been tasked with keeping an eye on Stark as well as keeping him away from Hammer and Vanko who both had personal vendettas against him.

One was based on ego and the other was emotional.

Together they had built a new technology hoping to probably upstage Stark and if Vanko had his way, kill him in the process.

Something called Hammer Drones.

Even the name of it gave her a headache.

The room was packed with people and press and Natasha had already tuned her ear piece in so Fury could hear. "You getting this boss?"

"Every word Romanov."

"Ladies and gentlemen for far too long this country has had to place brave men and women in harms way. But then the Iron Man arrived and we thought the days of losing lives were behind us. Sadly that technology was kept out of reach. That's not fair, its not right."

_I'd like to plant my foot up this guy's ass, _Natasha thought grimly. _What does he know about war and the people who fight in it? He's just looking for money and power._

"And it's just too bad. Regardless it was an impressive innovation that grabbed headline the world over. But today my friends, the press is faced with quite a different problem.

They are about to run out of ink."

_Egotistical bastard._

Two girls ran out from backstage as Hammer backed away from the podium and pulled it back into the shadows.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Today I present to you the new face of the United States military. The Hammer Drones!"

All of a sudden the blue lights came on as if they were at a concert and there came a whirring sound as from beneath the stage a compartment was open and what appeared to be a dozen large humanoid armored robots appeared.

Natasha exchanged glances with Pepper who looked worried before turning back to the stage.

Apparently there were four different types of drones for the army the navy and the air force and marines.

"That's a hell of a lot better than some cheerleaders let me tell you," Hammer went on as the four sets of heavily armored drones decorated the stage. They were at least eight feet tall and incredibly imposing.

"But as revolutionary as this technology is. There will always be a need for man to present in the theatre of war. Ladies and gentlemen I am proud to present to you today the very first prototype in the variable threat response battle suit and its pilot, air force lieutenant Colonel James Rhodes!"

Well that was new.

From the center of the stage another compartment was pulled back and rising up from the depths was the Mark II suit Rhodes had stolen from Stark a few weeks earlier.

"What?!" Pepper hissed in outrage.

Colonel Rhodes saluted the audience causing the drones to do the same along with a ham fisted attempt from Hammer.

"For America and it' allies, Hammer industries is reporting for – "

All of a sudden he was cut off when there came a sudden bright light from behind the audience.

Everyone turned around to find what appeared to be an incoming craft flying straight towards the stage.

Natasha's eyes picked up the red and gold armored plating first however.

It wasn't a craft.

It was Stark.

_Son of a bitch. _

Stark landed on the stage causing the audience to give a roar of approval. He walked up to Rhodes and though Natasha couldn't hear what they were saying it appeared that a heated conversation was going on.

"What's happening?" Pepper asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine," Natasha replied.

All of a sudden there was a beeping sound and the guns mounted on Rhodes back were activated, pointing right at Stark.

"What the hell is going on?" Pepper demanded.

"I think Vanko's controlling the suit, and maybe all the rest of them too," Natasha replied. "Come on we have to get out of here."

She needed to find his location and take him down before he could activate the rest of the drones and blow Stark into space.

Finally she could what she was here for.

Ω

The quiet continued until Hermione was sure if something didn't happen she would go crazy.

The study time down by the water had gone on and on and though she felt prepared for her exams, she felt as if something was about to happen that she wouldn't be ready for.

Neville had excused himself about an hour ago to go and speak to Professor McGonagall about something and Hermione had barely missed his presence.

Until he came barreling down the hill towards them as fast as he could as if the hounds of hell were on his tale.

His face was red from the cool air and his cloak was billowing behind him as he ran almost tripping over his own laces as he came to a stop before them….panting.

"What the bloody hell is wrong mate?" Ron demanded as they all stared at him in surprise.

Neville bent over at the waist breathing hard as if he had never run that fast before, which he probably hadn't.

"He…..He's back," he managed to pant between gasps for air. "Quirrel's…..back!"

Cold tendrils like icy fingers gripped Hermione's heart and she looked at Neville sharply. "Did you tell McGonagall?"

The boy nodded but then the redness in his face seeped to his eyes and he looked as if he were about to cry. "We…We went to the third floor to confront him…..and they….they fought and….and he threw her against the wall. I don't know if she's okay!"

Instantly Hermione was on her feet looking at the rest of her friends. "Where's Dumbledore?"

"He's at a conference at the ICW," Harry realized his face paling. "He won't be back until tomorrow!"

"And Snape?" Susan demanded.

"He went with him," Draco whispered in dread.

Seeing as how it was Easter weekend and most of the students had gone home to celebrate the holiday some of the teachers had been given the time off too.

This was bad.

This was very bad.

Without even waiting to see if they were following Hermione raced off towards the castle as fast as her legs could carry her.

_Dad's penchant for flying would be helpful at a time like this, _she thought wryly to herself as she ran.

There wasn't a lot of time for humor though as Hermione and the rest of them entered the castle and dashed up the stairs to the third floor corridor. The pictures became blurs down the side of the halls as they ran and before long they reached the corridor in question.

Her breath seemed loud in her ears and as she ran and the hallways seemed to elongate as she and her friends dashed down them.

The entire seemed eerily quiet as well. Hermione knew a lot of kids had gone home for the Easter holidays but this was ridiculous. Their footsteps seemed to echo loudly on the stones and by the pale look on Ron's face you would think they were utterly alone in the giant castle.

"Mione…..you don't really think he's – " Harry began.

"I don't know Harry," the strawberry blonde snapped. "And at this point, it really doesn't matter. We need to get there and find out what's going on before we do anything."

The path to the third floor corridor seemed to elongate and Hermione literally began to feel as if they had been running for hours before they skidded around a corner and came in sight of the hallway they were looking for.

To Hermione's horror, she saw a limp professor McGonagall lying on the floor just opposite the door to the room.

Neville dashed over and felt her forehead and checked her breathing. "She's okay. I….I think."

"Nev why didn't you call for someone when you found her?" Harry asked as gently as he could.

"I did!" the brown haired boy exclaimed. "I ran to the hospital wing but I couldn't find Madam Pomphrey or Professor Flitwick so I ran outside and found you guys."

"Okay," Hermione said taking charge. "Nev, stay here with the professor. Dudley why don't you run to the hospital and see if you can find Pomphrey or Flitwick. We're going to need them."

It was then that she turned toward the door and caught sight of the fact that it had been blown off its hinges.

The Cerberus was still inside, growling and snapping at the sight of them, but the trapdoor beneath its feet was half torn open as if someone had been in a terrible haste to get down there and hadn't wanted to face the animal.

Ah, so Quirrel hadn't found a way to tame the beast but maybe he had found a way to temporarily distract it while he got down the trapdoor.

Which meant he had gone after the stone and they didn't have a moment to lose.

Hermione hadn't even realized she was going towards the door before Draco was beside her and grabbed her arm.

"Are you insane Granger?" He hissed. "That man's armed and dangerous and he knocked one of the teachers unconscious. We need to stay away from him and let the adults handle this."

"And where are they?" Hermione demanded. "Snape's with Dumbledore and they're both at the ICW. McGonagall's down for the count and we don't know where Sprout Pomphrey and Flitwick are. We don't have time to wait for the adults. If Quirrel gets ahold of that stone its all over."

"And so what do you want to do?" Draco retorted. "Fight him? We're eleven years old we don't have any idea of how to fight!"

Hermione raised an eyebrow at him. "You may not but I do."

With that she pulled her long knives from her boots. There was a slight screech of the metal as the blades rubbed against the buckles and came free.

Draco's face went white at the sight of them. "Where the bloody hell did you get those?!"

Hermione didn't answer and Harry shook his head. "Don't bother Draco her mind's made up. I've known Mione long enough that when she gets that look on her face, there's no arguing with her."

The blonde stared at her for a long time, his face hard and then he seemed to deflate. "Alright then let's go."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "You're going to come with me?"

He glared at her. "If you think I'm going to let you go down there by yourself to face whatever concoctions Dumbledore has whipped up to guard the stone and a madman intent on getting it by yourself than you're even crazier than I thought."

"Well then I'm going too," Susan announced, a determined expression on her face. "There's strength in numbers."

"And there might be Nargles down there," Luna said dreamily. "If would be better if you didn't face them alone."

Ron was pale but he nodded determinedly. "And if you think I'm staying up here with Nev and Dudley to wait around and pace than you're crazy. I'm going too!"

"Well what are we waiting for?" Harry asked pulling his wand from his wrist sheath. "Let's go."

Getting past the Cerberus seemed to be much tougher than they had anticipated and Hermione knew right away that this was the definition of a guard dog.

Fortunately its size worked against it in the small space and there were six of them against one of it. It went by unspoken agreement that three of their number worked to distract the Cerberus while the other three worked on getting the trapdoor open.

It was hard work and every so often the dog seemed to be aware of the efforts of the others for he would turn and snap at them, causing them to abandon their work and dodge out of the way to avoid him.

It took them almost three minutes before Draco seemed to get fed up and pointed his wand and at the trapdoor yelling: "Reducto!"

The trapdoor exploded and caused enough of a distraction that the six of them were able to dive for the now gaping hole in the floor and slid through it just in the brink of time.

It was a near thing too for the Cerberus growled and roared at them and Ron who was the last one through got his cape caught up in the beasts claws.

Thankfully he had the presence of mind to yank open the clip at his neck and drop out of the material before the Cerberus had time to pull him up.

"B-Bloody hell," Hermione heard him stammer as he fell through the trapdoor behind her and she just had time to ask if everyone was alright.

Because then they were falling down….down….down…..into darkness.

Ω

Thor had been aware for some time now that his mother had been watching him. Frigga had always been a sharp and intelligent woman and he would be as dense as a rock if he believed that she would not notice that his presence was lacking during selective times throughout the past few years.

For example, every September he would be away for a few days for an unknown reason. She had never confronted him about it because when he returned from wherever he had been there was always a hard look on his face as if he had hated to return to Asgard from wherever he had been.

Her curiosity was beginning to weigh on her and several times she contemplated asking him where he had gone but something had always stopped her.

As a matter of fact, Loki had been exceedingly quiet as well and there was a time when she had wandered down the halls of the palace and happened to find the pair of them

conversing quietly on the balcony in heated tones.

She had ducked behind one of the pillars hoping to hear what it was that they were talking about but the pair of them had gone silent and when she peaked out again, they were both gone.

It was all serving to make her annoyed and more than a little concerned.

It wasn't all that surprising for Loki to have secrets, he was the master of them after all.

But Thor?

For the last few centuries her golden haired son had been very easy to read and suddenly he wasn't anymore.

He seemed to have aged somewhat as if that were even possible and whenever she spoke to him she could tell he was distracted, as if his mind was a million miles away and he wanted to be wherever it was.

And another thing that was making her question what was happening was the fact that Odin had been speaking lately of her son's coronation and what he would do when he stepped down and entered the Odin sleep for good. Along with the subject of wearing a crown there was the subject of finding a queen for the new king and Frigga couldn't help but notice that whenever this came up, a hard look would enter Thor's eyes and he or his brother would change the subject.

Odin seemed oblivious to this but a mother always knows when her children are hiding something.

And lately it seemed as if the very halls of the palace of Asgard were rife with secrets and lies and it was making Frigga anxious.

Meanwhile, Thor himself was anxious as well. He knew Hermione was only eleven years old, and that it would still be another seven years before she would reach her majority and he would know for certain whether she was mortal or immortal.

His patience was beginning to wear thin though. And he could tell that Loki was beginning to become similarly exasperated.

They were both in similar situations you see and neither of them could disappear at the same time to see their children and the women they loved for fear of someone noting their twin absences.

It was therefore very frustrating that the only people they could talk to about what was happening was each other.

Thor had known of Luna almost as long as Loki had known of Hermione as well as her mother Pandora.

It had amused him greatly that for all his brother's talk of not finding the women of earth as beautiful as those of Asgard that he had found one whom he cared for very much from that realm that he had previously mocked.

The irony was not lost on him and he made this known to his brother quite a few times over the last few years which annoyed Loki a good deal.

Hermione and Luna didn't know that they were cousins and neither did Natasha nor Pandora know about each other. They had done this for the safety of both of their families.

The less the children knew of each other the safer they would be.

Odin had issued an edict a long time ago about the prohibition of demigod children from any being in Asgard and it was a law that was enforced with the strictest of punishments.

Loki's children that had been discovered were chained to their own realms and forbidden from leaving and Loki forbidden from seeing them.

Luna had a good deal many brothers and sisters whom she had yet to meet and Loki had told Thor that he had imparted the knowledge of them to her. The small blonde also seemed to be very keen to visit Asgard.

That had caused a long discussion and the revelation that his daughter was not to come to Asgard until their father had passed into the Odin sleep and they were able to overturn the laws once again.

Something the two of them had spoken of at length as well was the matter of the kingship. Thor had absolutely no desire to sit on a throne and reason with diplomats from other realms and assuage wounded egos and delegate peace treaties. However that was something Loki excelled at.

Likewise, Loki had no desire to be the iron fist to crush uprisings and deal with wars and battles which was something that Thor handled very well.

As a result of these revelations, the both of them had an idea of what to do when their father stepped down for good.

In the meantime, Thor was descending into the bowels of the palace where the great rooms full of tomes were kept on the history of Asgard and prophecy and everything of that sort.

His intention was to search for any and all information pertaining to demigod children and to see if he were able to tell whether or not Hermione would be mortal and immortal from the written word as opposed to blood.

As he looked through the stacks of shelves with books upon books, he thought about what he would do if it turned out that Hermione was mortal.

He was already tired thinking of the fact that Natasha, the only woman he had ever loved as fiercely as he did was mortal and would pass from this world, though it would be slower than other mortals.

Thinking of this caused such an intense pain to rise in his chest that for a moment he stopped thinking that something was physically wrong. After taking a few deep breaths, he realized what he was feeling was just a taste of what he would feel if she passed from the world and he never saw her again.

A growl slipped from between his lips as he considered the past eleven years with Natasha. They had certainly been the best years of his very long life. Though she was mortal, she challenged him in a way that few women of his own realm did. Her beauty lacked for nothing and she had such courage about her that it sometimes left him in awe.

Her smart answers and fierce manner were one of the reasons that he had been drawn to her in the first place. She sought to do what was right in everything that she did and he knew to never underestimate her.

She was all he had ever been looking for and all he had ever wanted despite knowing it not. And he would bring about an apocalypse before he would allow any harm to come to her.

He made up his mind a long time ago that the only way to keep the both of them with him forever was for Natasha to be brought to Asgard and pass the tests of Hela. If she did, she would be made an Asgardian goddess and he would not have to worry about what would happen if she were gone.

Now what he had to do was somehow figure out a way to bring her here without his father knowing.

Odin had already commented on the likelihood of him taking Lady Sif to wife when the crown was placed upon his head, a notion which caused Thor to grimace.

He had known Sif for many years and had developed a sisterly relationship with her that he did not want to break. He did not love her in that manner and he knew he never would but she was dear to him that he would not want to hurt her.

Odin, sometimes I wonder what it would have been like if I had never met Natasha. Surely things would have been simpler.

But as he thought about it, his mere existence had been brought so much light by her mere presence and had only brought more with the birth of Hermione.

He loved Natasha in a way that he would never love anyone else and Asgard would be damned before he let his father or anyone else but his brother know about them.

He had never told her he loved her but neither had she though he could tell by the way she looked at him and her deep green eyes went soft in a way that he had never seen them do before that she did. Her tone when she knew he was right about something would turn sarcastic but then fade away into a beautiful smile when she saw that he was gently teasing her. Whenever he sat beside her, she would lean her head on his shoulder and he would pull her close breathing in her sweet scent. She fit perfectly in his arms and it seemed as if she had always belonged there.

_Odin, what has this woman done to me?!_

His search continued for the next hour as he thought about the family he had left behind and other plans of what he would do to keep them safe.

It was then that he stumbled upon something strange.

It was an old book of prophecy covered in dust and bound with golden chains. Embedded at its centre was a black jewel that seemed to glimmer with a light all its own. It was almost as thick as his arm and heavy as Mjolnir. There were no words written across its face but it didn't seem to need it.

Thor knew right away that this book contained many secrets and wondered why on earth it had been hidden away down in these crypts for thousands of years.

The walls of the Ancient Rooms were covered in sheer rock and there were torches embedded in the walls and there was a musty smell as if the rooms hadn't been opened for thousands of years,

It wasn't a pleasant place to be though Thor wasn't very affected by it. This way, no one would think to look for him here.

Seizing one of the torches on the wall, the god took the book back to the table and set it on the surface before he sat down and murmured the ancient word for open to open the book.

He was a little surprised when nothing happened. This book must have been here before his birth hundreds of years earlier.

Another thought struck him. Had it been here since the founding of Asgard?

He carried on for another fifteen minutes trying every way he could think of to loosen the golden chains that bound the book together but nothing worked.

He sat back for a moment, frustrated.

There was something about the book that he couldn't explain and he had a deep feeling that he needed to look into it.

But he had no idea where to start.

He was just considering hiding the book beneath his cloak and taking it back to his chambers for safe keeping to try again later when the black gem in the face of the book sparkled again.

Curious, the god rubbed a thumb over the face of the gem a few times, trying to see where the sparkle was coming from.

As he stroked the jewel for the third time the gem seemed to shine and with a soft click the chains fell away.

What is this new devilry? He wondered.

Gingerly, he grasped the cover of the book between his thumb and forefinger and pushed it open.

The ancient runes in it spoke of a time before Asgard, a period of rebirth for the realm in which the whole of it was in a vicious cycle of death and rebirth and doused with fire and blood that Thor almost wanted to put the tome away.

I think I now see why this manuscript was buried down here. Whoever hid it must have had good reason to.

He continued paging through the ancient text reading and skimming, all other notions of looking for demigod children forgotten at the moment.

It wasn't until he had reached about the middle of the book when he came upon a page that seemed to leap off the page at him with the way it grabbed his eyes.

It spoke of a prophecy as old as when the cosmic deities had ruled the galaxies, a time of continuous death and rebirth in a horrid cycle of blood.

It had been predicted for a time long after it had been issued and whoever had issued it must have been a gat far seer.

For it was on the second page of the prophecy he found something that caused his blood to turn to ice in his veins.

It mentioned his brother and himself leading their demigod children to bring about the destruction of the gods. Asgard would dissolve in a shower of blood.

Thor's breath caught in his throat in horror at the description of what he would do and how his children would follow him.

Hermione was his only child, but did this mean he would have others?

The prophecy went on to say that the children would seek revenge. But for what it didn't say.

It all made sense now.

Yet Thor wondered how on earth he could have done such a thing as bring about the destruction of his home. He had grown up here, loved its people and his father and mother and brother and the Warriors three. How was it that such a thing had come to be? He must have suffered some great enchantment in order to wreak such fire and death on the city that he held dear.

Then he read the passage again and noticed the section where it said that his brother would come to Asgard atop the helm of a great ship with his son Fenrir at his side and that

Thor himself would ride upon the great serpent Jormungander. His child of lightning would be rising a storm at his side and would rain hail and destruction upon the earth.

Hermione?

By now his horror was so acute it was causing bile to rise in his throat and he had to physically force himself to keep reading.

As bad as this prophecy was coloured to be however, it didn't excuse the fact that Odin had committed a great sin against his brother. He would deny his sons happiness based on a far flung rumour.

When had Odin become so foolish to believe the whims of a prophecy as opposed to the circumstances of reality?

Thor felt his blood begin to boil at the injustice of it all. So that was why his father had ripped Loki's children from his arms without giving his brother or them a chance to prove their worth. He had denied his brother happiness and would continue to do so if he learned about Luna. But with Luna if he ever found out about her Loki would do more than destroy Asgard. He may just cause the end of the Nine Realms as they knew it. The little blonde was his pride and joy and her mother was the love of Loki's life.

Thor tried to imagine what he would do if Odin did something to Natasha and Hermione and at once couldn't think straight for the haze of red that had clouded his vision.

He took a deep breath to calm himself and slammed the book shut and put the chains back in place.

If his father had been afraid of mummery as this prophecy seemed to be, something hadn't come true and of which he had no guarantee that it ever would than he had been right to hide Hermione and her mother away.

But extra precautions would be necessary to keep Odin from finding out about them.

As he replaced the book and walked out of the Ancient Rooms up the stairs back to the main heart of the palace, Thor began to ponder what it was that he could do and how far he would go to protect Hermione and Natasha.

And he knew in his heart of hearts he would go as far as it took.

Ω

_Why on earth did I agree to let him come along?_

Natasha was currently sitting next to Happy Hogan in the company car Stark had given to him and the two were driving through the streets of downtown Miami. They were headed for Hammer industries to stop Vanko after Natasha had ensured that Pepper had exited the building and been handed over to Stark's personal security.

Happy hadn't wanted to let her go and face down Vanko alone which made Natasha want to laugh. After she had taken him out on the first day she had met him should be enough reason that she was more than qualified to do this.

But Happy still followed an old code of chivalry it seemed for he insisted on coming with her.

Natasha was glad she had had a change of clothes in her SHIELD uniform on her which made for a more uncomplicated escape.

"So what's the plan?" Happy asked, for all the world looking like an excited puppy about to go on its first walk.

Natasha stifled the urge to roll her eyes. "When we get there you're going to stay in the car and keep an eye out for more trouble while I go in and deal with Vanko."

Not for the first time did she wish that Thor was with her in this situation. After knowing each other for eleven year and being married for eight of them, he knew her methods almost better than Ivan did.

But they had clicked on their very first assignment together which was no easy thing so that alone made him easier to work with.

Happy didn't look very thrilled with the idea of playing guard dog but at the moment she didn't really care.

She had seen him fight and his brawler style had no place in where they were going. She had expected for Vanko to don whatever contraption he had made for himself when she went in to face him and Happy would just be a liability.

Still though, he was as loyal as a golden retriever and nothing she seemed to say would dissuade him from going with her.

So at that point, she really had no choice.

As they drove she reflected on Stark for the past few days and was glad to see that he finally seemed to be taking something seriously again. Having finally come up with a replacement for palladium he seemed to be taking on the persona of the man who had returned from his hostage situation in the Middle East a few years earlier.

From there her mind drifted to Hermione. She knew that her little girl was hiding something for her letters seemed far too vague compared to the detailed ones she had sent earlier in the year.

Natasha wasn't sure what trouble her little girl could get into in a magical school but something told her she didn't want to know.

She gets her penchant for mischief from her father and her uncle, the red head thought wryly.

She had never met Loki but Thor had always spoken of her brother fondly as someone who had always had his back so that was enough for her.

In her letters, Hermione had ceased talking about her friends and what they were learning to vague commentaries about the weather and pleasantries that were best left out of a conversation on ones wellbeing.

As soon as I clear up this business with Stark, I need to give her a phone call and find out what's going on. She's always had no problem telling me anything and now she's just acting a little too secretive for my liking.

Thinking of Hermione in turn caused Natasha's thoughts to turn toward the god who had fathered her and what he was up to. She had seen him a few weeks earlier and all had seemed well but he has made a comment to her that just didn't sit right.

His mother Frigga, and therefore her mother in law when she thought about it had been watching him a lot more closely lately.

Natasha wasn't sure which caused the greater headache, knowing that they had to be even more careful or that her mother in law was an immortal goddess.

There were times when she wanted to go to Asgard to meet her husbands parents and family and then there were times when she couldn't believe that he was actually their son.

What kind of person man or god makes up a law forbidding the birth of children from other realms? And is this the type of god who would send someone after a child if it's existence were discovered?

She had had eleven, almost twelve years to accept the fact that this would never be a normal relationship given what they all were but the continued complications were starting to weigh on her.

Not for the first time did she wish that either Thor were a mortal man or that she were a goddess just so half of their problems would be solved.

Hermione had also been asking a lot of questions lately about her grandparents, questions that Natasha didn't know how to answer.

Thor hadn't told her about the law his father had enacted and that due to it she wasn't allowed to exist. Perhaps it was because he wanted to wait a little longer until she was old enough to understand or perhaps he was wanting to wait until his coronation when his father stepped down so he could overturn the law, but whatever the case he didn't seem very keen to tell her.

_I think over the summer when Hermione's home the three of us need to sit down and have a conversation about what we can expect in the future. Hermione has questions that need to be answered and despite her father's reticense, she needs to know what's going on._

"We're here."

Natasha glanced up at Happy's quiet assessment and noted grimly that they had pulled up to the door of Hammer technologies, the main building.

Hammer must not have a lot of security if he's let us get this far without any problems.

"Stay here and make sure that no one else comes," she said when it looked like he was about to speak. "I'm going in."

"Well then I'm going with you," Happy said stalwartly. "You might need backup."

At is point, Natasha didn't really have time to argue. If Happy wanted to get himself killed that was his business.

"Fine," she said tersely before she jerked open the door and dashed for the steps and the front door of the building, Happy right behind her.

As soon as she pulled open the door, the alarm went off as expected.

"Hey, hey you guys can't be in here," one of the security guards said starting toward them.

Happy didn't wait for him to say anything else because he dashed straight at the guy and started in on his boxing routine.

Leaving him to deal with that problem, Natasha dashed past him towards the other security guard down the hall that was rushing towards them. Diving into a slid on her knees, she yanked two of the small electrodes from her belt and tossed them at him. The shock caused him to dance like a marionette on strings before hitting his head in the wall and falling to the ground unconscious.

As soon as she saw him fall, Natasha turned back around and saw another guard coming at her. There was a rolling table in front of him and she dashed for it, using the table to flip herself up and over it, knocking him over so his head smacked agains the floor rendering him out of business.

Barely registering that, Natasha took off again to deal with more of Hammer's lack lustre security. His goons didn't even carry guns, only bully clubs and that did nothing if one came at them fast enough.

Pulling her cable from her belt, Natasha caught the arm of one of the guards in between the rope, knocked his knees out before wrapping the cable around his neck and jerking him to the floor. Still holding on to the cable, she blocked a strike from one of the other guards that had come at her and took him out with one swift kick.

After that, one guard who had opened a side door in the hall upon hearing the noise was easily dispatched with a bottle of pepper spray.

"I got him!" She heard Happy yell from the front entrance where he had just finished knocking out the first security guard.

Natasha smirked and strode on down the hall.

Now to find where Vanko was hiding and catch him like a spider in his own web.

Ω

Surprisingly a lot passed through Hermiones mind as she and her friends were sliding down into the dark tunnel beneath the trap door.

The first thing was that she was shocked and surprised and trying to gain a footing where there was none. The second was that she was trying to ensure that she didn't crash into one of her friends and injure herself and the third was trying to see where it was that they were heading to.

All of these attempts proved futile because no one could control the angle with which they were sliding or see a hand in front of their face.

Harry, Draco and Ron were all yelling out in surprise and Susan was uttering frightened squeaks as well. Luna and Hermione were the only ones that were silent and Luna was startlingly humming out a peculiar tune.

"Everybody grab hands!" Hermione yelled. "We don't want to get separate.

It was like the most gigantic amusement part water slide Hermione had ever been on. She had loved using the slide in Harry's and Dudley's back yard when they were little but this was pushing it.

Somehow they all managed to latch hold of one another, whether it was by fingers or feet or grasping the sleeve of one shirt or collar.

"Where the bloody hell does this thing go to!" Ron shrieked.

"How should I know?" Harry yelled back.

After a while they gradually began to become used to the sensation of falling and the yells and shrieks ceased.

"Everyone should get their wands at the ready," Susan called out. "We don't know what's going to be waiting for us at the end of this tunnel."

It took some doing but somehow everyone managed to get their wands free from their pockets.

Hermione who had bound her wand to her wrist had no need to draw it for it was touching her skin as it was.

All of a sudden as quickly as there had been darkness a bright light appeared up ahead and Hermione yelled: "watch out!"

As suddenly as the light appeared there was suddenly no tunnel beneath them anymore and they were falling down again.

Screams and curses came in abundant succession, as the ground raced up to meet them and Hermione got her wits about her just in time to shout "Wingardium Leviosa!"

She wasn't sure if the floating spell would work on other people but at that moment it didn't really seem to matter.

To her relief it worked and they stopped just an nice above the hard stone ground, just floating in mid air.

Hermione maintained the spell for a few seconds so people could get a hold of themselves before releasing it and the six of them dropped to the ground, landing in a heap."

"B-Bloody hell," Ron stammered trembling. "What in Merlin's name was that?"

"Nargles," Luna said a bit dizzily. "That was the work of Nargles. They like to make people dizzy and confused.

"Well I don't know about Nargles," Harry said helping Hermione to her feet. "But I think we have a problem to deal with."

At his words, everyone looked around and muttered out muffled curses.

They seemed to be in a large cylindrical chamber with sheer rock walls that went up at least a hundred feet. If they looked up high enough, they could see the large opening that they had fallen through. It appeared almost like the opening of a pipe.

From where they were the six of them had of them had to crane their necks all the way up to see where they had fallen.

"We're never going to be able to climb back up there," Ron complained.

Draco cursed under his breath. "Weasley I think that's the least of our problems right now."

Everyone turned to see what he was talking about and let out muffled exclamations.

Up until that point, no one had noticed how hot it was in the chamber but when Draco brought it up, they all wondered how it had gone beneath their attention.

Turning around, they found themselves confronted with a massive cavern that spanned almost the entire length and breadth of the chamber.

There was only a rickety rope bridge across it that looked as if it were a century old and which was creaking slightly.

The small group walked to the edge of the precipice and hesitantly looked down at what the rope bridge hung over.

Both Harry and Hermione swallowed hard but it was Draco who gave voice to their started thoughts.

"Inferi."

Susan turned pale and stared at him. "Are you sure?"

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered. "I've heard stories about them. They're supposed to eat the flesh off a human if someone falls into a bunch of them."

"Very comforting Weasley," Draco muttered.

Far below the rope bridge was indeed a large deep pool of eerie green water where hundreds of slimy green snake like creatures with sharp talons and scales were writhing about. The pool seemed to be lit up with a phosphorescent light and Hermione wondered absently if the Inferi released chemicals into the water to make it light up.

Upon seeing the small group, the Inferi clambered toward the side of the pit where they were standing and began hissing and snapping their long fish like range at them, causing everyone to take an unconscious step back.

The walls of the chamber leading down to the pit infested with Inferi were smooth sheer rock and if someone were to fall into the pit, it wasn't as if they could grab a hold of the walls to stop themselves.

It would be a straight drop into a toxic cesspit and then eaten alive by Inferi.

"Merlin what a awful way to die," Susan whispered.

"Let's try and avoid that shall we?" Draco asked but his face was pale as he said it.

Turning away from the cavern and the long drop into flesh eating creatures, the small group focused on the rope bridge leading across cavern.

The cavern itself must have been at least one hundred feet wide and one hundred feet long and perfectly circular. At the opposite end of the cavern across the rope bridge, there appeared to be a door leading out of the chamber.

"What are we waiting for?" Ron said nodding at the door. "Let's get across and get out of here."

He started for the steps to the rope bridge and just then Hermione seized his arm and jerked him to a stop.

"Don't be a fool Ron," she hissed. "Don't you see that the wood on the bridge is warded?"

Everyone looked where she was pointing and saw that she was right.

Runes were embedded in planks of the wood and seemed to glimmer as if a light was shining on them. Odd different symbols in the planks glimmered with different colours and seemed to vibrate as they drew near to the steps.

"It's a puzzle," Luna said dreamily. "You need to translate the tune first and then say what it means and tap the wood. If you get it wrong, you'll fall through and the Inferi will be having an early midsummer's night feast."

"How comforting," Susan said sarcastically.

"I'm certainly not a Cursebreaker," Ron said sarcastically. "What are we going to do?"

"Well it's quite simple," Luna went on. "This rune here is a riddle and it asks what ages all things but never grows old."

"Time," Harry and Hermione said instantly.

"Good."

Luna tapped the tune embedded in the plank with her want and the letters dissolved until it was a simple plank of wood.

"Now we can stand on it," she said.

Hesitantly, Hermione stepped onto the wood and let out a sigh of relief when it didn't creak, it didn't even move.

This followed them all following her in single file along the bridge. Hermione was in the front and Luna directly behind. Luna and Hermione were the only ones who had taken

Ancient Runes and some of the riddles that were embedded in the wood were very difficult not only to translate but also to solve the riddle once it had been translated.

Hermione wondered absently who it was that had taught Luna ancient Runes to such an extent. Her mother had no idea what they meant and although some of the runes were Norse in nature there were only some that she knew in detail.

This carried on for about a half an hour until the whole of their party was in the middle of the bridge.

At this moment, Hermione happened to look up in the midst of translating the next rune towards the door on the opposite side and froze.

Have you ever looked through a fire to the images on the opposite side? The most common occurrence of such a thing was for the image on the other side of the Flames was for the picture to writhe and appear smoky as if it were a mirage.

And this was the phenomena the strawberry blonde was experiencing now.

The door on the opposite side of the rope bridge was writhing as if she were seeing a mirage through a flame.

It's detail had become blurry and faded out the nearer they got over to it and for an instant, Hermione wondered as if it were another riddle that needed to be solved that one wouldn't know about until they had gotten over there.

But then as they solved the next rune, Hermione glanced at the door and frowned because it seemed ever more washed out and faded than before.

What is going on here?

And then with a start she realized what was happening.

There were many spells she had learned about in the past year which could confund a person into believing something was there when it really wasn't. She had read a lot about them and there were simple ones and powerful ones.

And this must have been a powerful charm to confund someone into believing that something was there when it didn't really exist.

Which only meant one thing.

There was no door on the other side of the bridge.

The realization of this hit her with the intensity of a bucket of ice water.

They were heading into a trap.

"STOP!"

Instantly everybody halted what they were doing.

Ron had just begun to put his foot down on the board right behind Susan who was behind Draco and froze in midair.

"What the bloody hell is it this time Granger?" Draco hissed.

"Everybody turn around slowly and walk back to the platform," Hermione whispered. "We're heading into a trap."

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"There is no door on the other end of this bridge."

Ron went pale.

"What do you mean there's no bridge?" Susan demanded.

"Someone has placed a powerful confundus charm on the opposite platform of them bridge," Luna whispered. "There's no door there, but someone wanted us to think there was."

At this explanation everyone went pale.

"Everybody stay calm," Harry whispered. "Dumbledore obviously designed this chamber very well. He didn't want anyone to come over to this side. There has to be an opening in the chamber somewhere. Quirrel got through some way, we can too."

Everybody took deep breaths and turned around to climb carefully back across the bridge to the other side so they could figure out what to do.

The atmosphere was so tense that Hermione could feel the sweat sliding down her back. No made a sound as they moved, all faculties concentrated on making it to the other side of the bridge.

_How the bloody hell did Quirrel figure this puzzle out?_ Hermione fumed as they walked back across. _It seems as if there's only one way in and one way out but Quirrel must have gone somewhere._

She was just contemplating the fact that Quirrel may have possibly fallen into the pit of Inferi and died when something happened that she did not intend.

There was a sudden cracking sound and everybody froze.

"What was that?" Draco demanded.

"Shhh!" Hermuone hissed.

The crackling sound continued and the strawberry blonde realized in horror that somehow the support systems for the bridge were coming undone. The rope holding the bridge to the stake on the other side was fraying.

And Ron realized this at the same time too.

"Run!" He yelled.

There was no sense for caution after that and all of them hauled themselves for the other side.

Hermione didn't bother to think about stepping carefully because there was no need to anymore. All the runes on the planks they had stepped so far had been dissolved.

But apparently they would learn later that Dumbledore had designed this particular chamber in such a way so as to draw one to the other side of the bridge. Upon finding out that there was in fact no door on the other side, they would try to make their way back to the platform they had fallen onto to try and get their bearings and regroup.

Unfortunately, Dumbledore had also designed the chamber in such a way that the intruding party would never make it back.

Something the six eleven year olds discovered about halfway back.

Because all of a sudden there came a mighty crack and all Ron had time to do was utter one curse that would have earned him a smack upside the head from his mother before the entire bridge gave way and Hermione, Draco Harry, Susan, Luna and Ron plunged headlong into the cavern.

And towards the Inferi below.

Ironically in that moment Hermione remembered what Dumbledore had said at the opening feast back in September.

The third floor corridor is off limits unless you wish to experience a most painful death.

She finally understood what he meant.

Ω

**I always thought that the protections Dumbledore had placed around the stone in the books were ridiculous. So in this story, you'll see much more different traps and protections. Dumbledore designed it so that no one but else was allowed down there. And when he said to stay out, he meant it. Also, I included Thor in the prophecy about the end times of Asgard which we'll probably see in Ragnarock next year. You'll find out why later lol. I got a question from a reviewer asking about how I was going to handle the Thor movie in this story when he's sent to earth. That storyline will be essentially happening in Hermione's second year which will be coming up shortly. And I've got big plans for it, so don't worry. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter and don't forget to review! **


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31

Many things passed through Hermione's head as she and her friends plummeted towards the green Inferi infested waters. None the least of which was fear and desperation and shock at what had happened.

The screams of her friends were echoing all around her as they plummeted toward the water below and Hermione feared that no one would hear them until it was too late. And their bloodcurdling screams bounced off the chamber walls as they were too far beneath the school for anyone to hear their cries.

Later she would think that the headmaster had been a smooth old bastard for arranging the traps the way he did. It was plainly obvious that he had wanted to no one to come down there save himself unless it was absolutely necessary.

If she ever made it out of this alive Hermione was sure she would never hear the end of this from her mother.

But right now she had to concentrate on not dying.

_Mum is going to kill me, _she thought absently. _And dad too whenever he comes back. He'd probably tear Hogwarts to the ground and burn the headmaster alive. And Aunt Petunia and Uncle Regulus…..what will they do? _

The wind was whistling past her ears and reminded her of a screaming banshee causing her to wince at the noise.

The screams of her friends were all around her and Hermione was hard pressed to concentrate on staying conscious and alive.

With an effort, she managed to draw her blades from her boots and grip them tightly in her fists. If she was going to die, than she was going to go down fighting.

As the green pool full of Inferi rushed up to meet them with the monstrous creatures clamoring as they saw food coming towards them, Hermione suddenly remembered her father telling her something a long time ago.

_Water is an excellent conductor of electricity. _

_Could it work? _Hermione thought in desperation.

Having no other choice really than to try it, she took a deep breath and reached and drew energy from the torches that lined the wall of the cavern until she could feel the sparks of electricity sizzling in her veins.

She had one chance to do this.

She clenched her fists and then forced them open, releasing the channel of electricity and sending a torrent of shocking white sparks and electricity from her towards the clamoring Inferi who they were only seconds away from them.

It almost appeared as if a spider's web of sparks and voltage was covering the cavern in netting as they fell.

There was a deafening concussion in the cavern and the Inferi let out high pitched screams as the electricity fried them to a crisp. The walls of the cavern blackened from the force of the concussion and that was all anyone had time to take notice of before they hit the water with the force of a train wreck.

Luna meanwhile had been concentrating her energies on whether or not she could freeze the Inferi as she was falling. She had had some success as the moment they hit the water and were engulfed in the green liquid she saw several large green icicles floating around her like cubes of water in a glass of pumpkin juice.

Hermione looked around underwater and saw that her friends were floating around her, looking shocked at the fact that the Inferi were floating around them….all dead.

She didn't really have time to breathe a sigh of relief because there was still the prospect of what they were going to do now.

Hermione paddled for the surface, desperate to breathe and saw with relief that her friends were doing the same thing. Her head broke through the surface and she took in a deep shuddering gasp as the water dripped down her face.

"B-B-Bloody hell!' Ron stammered, his red hair matting the sides of his head. "What the hell happened?"

"Every stay calm," Susan said placidly as the small group paddled over to each other and remained in a circle treading water. "Everything's going to be alright we just got a little wet that's all."

Harry gave his best friend an odd look. "What did you do Mione? I grew up with you and I've never seen you use a spell like that."

Hermione kept her face impassive as she observed her mate. "My father taught it to me. He said I might find it useful."

It wasn't a complete lie.

"I should say so," Draco muttered shivering as he observed a blackened Inferi float by in disgust. "You fried them all to a crisp. And the one's you didn't get, Lovegood froze."

Hermione locked eyes with Luna and though the blonde was soaking wet, she was still smiling. "My daddy taught me that one too."

Susan, sensing that Hermione wished to change the subject began to look around. "Well now that we're all alive and in one piece how about us looking around to see if we can find our way out of here? I don't think we can climb back up to the top of the chasm."

Looking around, they saw that she was right. The pool they were in was completely circular and the rock walls surrounding it utterly smooth. There was nowhere to gain a foothold.

Hermione cursed under her breath. "There has to be some way Quirrel got past this puzzle. Unless one of you saw his dead bones floating at the bottom of this thing, he got out. And so can we."

Ron turned slightly green.

Harry got a look of speculation on his face. "Wait here, I have an idea."

Before anyone could stop him, he dove beneath the water again and Ron cursed under his breath.

No one else made any effort to move as they waited for him to come up and Hermione instead gave in to her racing thoughts.

_Where the bloody hell could Quirrel have gone? That door up there was obviously a clever illusion by the headmaster to trap anyone unwanted who came down here but how did _

_Quirrel manage to get past this? Unless…..he's lying dead beneath us as we speak._

The thought didn't disturb her as much as it probably should have. But Hermione had seen a dead man when she was four and so seeing that kind of thing didn't really bother her anymore. Like her mother, not a lot did.

With a splash Harry came up from below startling almost all of them with his appearance.

Though he was gasping for air, there was a sparkle in his green eyes that told Hermione that he had found something.

"There's a door down there!" he burst out and immediately he had everyone's full attention.

"What?"

"Where?"

"Do you know how to open it?"

Harry held up his hands to get them all to slow down. "It several feet down below the surface and it looks as if its protected by runes like the bridge was. We're going to have to crack them to get it to open."

Luna got a look of concentration on her face. "Mione? Can you come with me so we can take a look?"

The strawberry blonde nodded before they both dove under the water.

Once Hermione got her bearings she could see what Harry was talking about.

The pool was extremely deep, at least fifty to one hundred feet and she could barely make out the bottom through the murky green water below.

It took a second for her eyes to adjust to the murky green world though when she did, she could make out the shadowy silhouette of an image on the side of the cavern wall about ten feet below the surface.

Quickly she and the blonde kicked through the water towards it.

When they reached the door, Hermione noticed right away that it was perfectly round, almost as if it connected to a tunnel on the other side. It was made of a peculiar kind of metal that she had never seen her and the door knob itself in the center of the round door was pure silver. There were dozens of runes carved into his surface and when

Hermione hesitantly reached for it, Luna knocked her hand away and pointed towards the edge of the door.

Looking closer, the two girls could see that there were runes on the outside of the door all around its edge and they were glimmering a pale blue in the dim light of the water.

_Brilliant, _Hermione fumed. _How the hell are we going to get past this new test?_

She was rapidly running out of air and she grabbed Luna's hand gesturing towards the surface and their other friends who were floating there.

The tiny blonde nodded and the kicked upwards again.

The two of them broke through the surface gasping for breath and their friends looked at them startled.

"You were down there a long time," Susan asked looking at them closely. "Are you alright?"

Hermione nodded and swallowed a few times. "There's a door down there that looks like it leads into a tunnel which is probably where Quirrel's gone."

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Ron asked, eager to be out of the water. "Let's go!"

"The door is goblin made," Luna said catching all of their attention. "Which means it can't be broken and it that only something goblin made can open it because the goblins are tricky that way. They only like to be able to open the things that they built."

Draco cursed under his breath. "I'm not exactly in the habit of carrying goblin made weapons on me wherever I go. So what the bloody hell do we do?"

There was silence for a moment where they all considered their course of action. The only way they could go was forward as it was obvious that they weren't going to be able to get back the way they came. There were no brooms and none of them could fly so that didn't help any.

"Goblin magic is different than wizard magic," Hermione said slowly. "So thus it follows that we'll need either something equal to or more powerful than goblin magic to open the door."

Draco gave Hermione a strange look then and she refrained from flinching. If her dad were here he would be able to get the door open no problem but she had no idea where he was.

She was unsure if the power she had was equal to that of goblin magic but she was half god so it was at least worth a try.

_I don't think I can use electricity to dissolve the door though, _she thought. _Water is an excellent conductor of electricity, but the door is made of metal which could cause the electricity to rebound back into the water and kill everyone but me. So that's out._

Luna was looking thoughtful. She glanced down at her moonstone bracelet that her daddy had given her for her birthday a year ago and considered it. He had imbued it with some of his power which was what enabled her to cover herself in moon's shadow when she wished because the stones were from the moon. Unknown to Hermione and the rest of her friends, she was also a demi god of considerable power. She wondered if that might have an effect on the door.

"Let's think about this logically," Harry said finally. "If we succeed in getting the door open there's going to be a considerable amount of water that will be following us into whatever's behind it. We're going to need to close it up fast if she don't want to get washed away."

They all nodded at the council and then Hermione remembered something that she had been told earlier in one of her history books.

Goblins were extremely clever creatures and there seemed to be riddles and puzzles to everything they did, if the poem she had seen on the front of Gringotts had been any indication.

It was obviously going to take a great deal of cleverness to get the door open.

Just then Luna let out a cry of surprise and everyone turned to her.

"What is it?" Harry demanded.

Luna looked as if she had just had a _eureka_ moment because she jerked the bracelet she was wearing off her wrist and held it up in the air as if it were a trophy.

"When my daddy gave me this bracelet, he told me that it had two unique features. The first was that the moonstones would conceal you from unfriendly eyes."

"And the second?" Susan prompted.

"You know how the moon has the power of gravity and at the appropriate time when someone lands on the moon they are completely weightless?"

Hermione and Harry nodded, but Draco, Susan and Ron looked a little confused.

"Go on Luna," the strawberry blonde prompted.

Luna looked as if she were about to burst with excitement. "He told me the other feature is one I'll have to solve for myself and I think I've just figured it out."

"Well don't keep us in suspense!" Draco snapped. "I don't know about you but I'm freezing and I'd like to get out of here!"

Completely unaffected by his tone, Luna smiled serenely. "If the moon has the power to reduce you to other weightlessness than perhaps this bracelet can render it so that I am no lighter than a feather. I learned a while ago that another use of moonstone, at least the ones found on earth is the fact that it can pass through solid objects. Suppose if I'm wearing it than it can allow me to phase through the door?"

There was a moment of complete silence where the group exchanged glances.

"Luna," Susan said gently. "That's a huge gamble. Goblin made objects are tricky and if you don't work them just right the consequences for breaking into one can be…..well… severe."

"I know," Luna said. "But this is the best idea we have. We have no idea when the headmaster is going to be back and Quirrel might have gotten to the stone by now. We have to least try."

Before any of them could protest, she had dived beneath the water leaving shocked silence behind.

"Buggering hell," Draco cursed. "Well come on then the least we can do is try and help her."

They all took deep breaths and dove beneath the water following the blonde Ravenclaw who by now was floating outside the door glaring at it with a look of concentration on her face.

She suddenly took hold of the large moonstone in the center of her bracelet and twisted it one hundred and eighty degrees to the left. All of a sudden the pure white stone with flecks of pale blue in turned black and Luna proceeded to do the same thing to the other two stones and when they turned black, the golden bracelet around her wrist turned black too.

Luna grinned and though her appearance didn't change her silhouette became a little wispier as if there tendrils of were smoke curling off her.

She gave them a mock salute and swam towards the door.

Hermione gripped the nearest persons hand, which happened to be Draco as the group watched tensely as Luna tested the door by reaching a hand towards it.

They all breathed a sigh of relief when her arm passed through completely uninhibited and the small blonde swam forward and went straight through the door.

Hermione released some of the breath she didn't even know she was holding and watched absently as the air bubbles floated up to the surface. She released Draco hand causing him to wince, shake it and glare at her.

She smirked at them while they waited to hear from the other side, knowing exactly what he would say if he could talk.

All of a sudden there was a knocking sound from the other side of the door causing all of them to flinch.

"I made it through!"

They could hear Luna's excited voice barely through the thick door but it was enough for them to all exchange grins.

"I think I can open the door from this side, hold on."

They were all rapidly running out of breath and almost ready to go back to the surface to get some more when there was a peculiar screeching sound and all of a sudden the door opened a crack.

Not wasting any more time, Hermione dove for it and latched onto the door to allow it to pull her in, her friends following.

The water had started to flood the other side of the door but the moment everyone was in, all six of them helped to slam the door shut and lean against it panting for breath.

"Bloody hell," Ron gasped.

_My sentiments exactly,_ Hermione thought.

When she had managed to get air back into her burning lungs, the strawberry blonde looked around to see that they were indeed in a rounded tunnel about the size of the door they had just swum through and the top of the tunnel just barely brushed the tops of their heads. It seemed to be made of stone and was surprisingly dry.

The only light they had was the light from Luna's moonstone bracelet which was glowing in the dark enough to illuminate the manic grin on her face.

"How'd you managed to get the door open?" Susan asked as they all regained their bearings and stood there shivering and soaking wet.

Luna smiled dreamily. "It turns out that all goblin objects like to be tickled so I did that and the door opened."

They were all used to Luna's odd statements by now and so most of them just ignored it.

"It seems that now we know where Quirrel went when he got out of the pool of Inferi," Harry sad gesturing at the tunnel in front of them and everyone exchanged grim looks.

Susan drew her wand and muttered something and all of a sudden they were all dry again. Everyone breathed sighs of relief and Susan smiled before pocketing the wand. "It turns out warming charms are something I excel at."

Ron turned to the tunnel ahead of them. "Bloody hell! I wonder how long this goes on for."

"There's only one way to find out," Harry replied grimly. At least we know we're following the right path. Quirrel can't be too much farther ahead of us."

"Are we sure about this?"

Everyone turned to Draco who had been quiet for the past few minutes.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked.

"I mean going after a dangerous criminal seems like something the work of a brash Gryffindor," he said, earning a snort of indignation from Ron. "Are we absolutely sure we have to do this?"

"McGonagall is indisposed, Snape and Dumbledore are gone and no doubt by now Dud and Nev have managed to alert Flitwick and Sprout wherever the hell they are. But we're the only one down here and I doubt even the teachers have seen this place if Dumbledore's been this secretive," he paused and ran a hand through his blonde hair which had become unruly since the fall and the swim. "My father always said that Dumbledore was the worst thing to happen to this place and while I'm not sure I agree….this isn't helping."

The rest of them exchanged uneasy looks with each other and there was a moment of silence before Hermione trusted herself to speak.

"That may very well be true Draco, but given where we are, I don't think there are any safe paths anymore."

She turned toward the tunnel in front of them. "If Quirrel gets his hands on that stone, than its all over. We have to stop him. So for right now…we are alone."

Ω

Natasha strode down the hallways of the main building in the Hammer industrial complex.

So far she had had no luck in finding Vanko and she was running out of patience. Fury was coordinating with Pepper who was mad with worry about where Stark and Rhodes had taken off to. But she knew that Vanko was controlling the Hammer drones, all of which could cause irreparable damage to others, themselves and public property.

_Hammer is a jumped up executive prick,_ she grumbled to herself. _He reminds me of Stefan may he rot in the deepest pits of hell._

But as bad as he was, Hammer was just a puppet for Vanko's darker ambition and that was to get revenge from Stark on behalf of what Howard Stark had done to his own father.

Finally, she burst into a room and was pleased to see that she was getting somewhere as it was filled with computers like a sort of command center, guns already cocked and Happy right behind her.

Two guards were hanging from the ceiling by a cable, clearly dead and there was blood on the floor amidst a mass of wires.

It was filled with computers lining the walls and there was an enormous monitor hung on the side of the room in the corner. A blaze of images were scattered across the screen almost if the person who had previously been in there had heard someone coming and hadn't had time to log off before he fled.

Vanko.

The red head cursed. "He's gone."

Natasha pressed a button on her ear piece and instantly heard Fury's voice asking for an update. "The area's secure boss. Vanko's nowhere to be found. It looks like he bailed when he heard we were coming."

Fury cursed. "Is he still in control of the Hammer drones?"

Natasha took a glance at the makeshift command system and grimaced when it looked like some of the controls were missing. "It appears so."

Fury cursed again. "Alright, case the place one more time and then get back here. We have Hammer in custody but he claims he doesn't know anything about Vanko's whereabouts."

"Like hell he doesn't," Natasha muttered. "He hired the guy to build another set of iron man suits to humiliate Stark tech. If he doesn't keep track of where his main engineer is than he's either the best liar in the world or the worst idiot."

Fury grunted. "Get back here."

"Yes sir."

Natasha strode to the computers and began typing in a series of GPS coordinates. She knew for a fact that Hammer would have placed clocking devices on all of his suits so he could keep track of where they were while they were off fighting. Now that was going to serve her purpose.

A window came up on the screen with the make of one of the Hammer drones, downloading all the data that pertained to it.

"What are you doing?" Happy asked.

"I'm rebooting Rhodey's suit," she replied, not giving any other answer.

After a few moments she was satisfied when the image of Rhodes' suit on the computer screen flashed green. "Come on."

"Where are we going now?"

"Back to SHIELD," Natasha nodded as she cased the room one last time making sure there wasn't anything that she missed. "Fury's about to make that prick Hammer sing and I need to coordinate with Pepper before those freak tin soldiers of Hammer's destroy a lot of public property."

"So Hammer's going to prison?" Happy asked looking for all the world like the definition of his name.

"And Vanko too once we find him. They're both looking at life if they're not killed in prison first. Though I'm sure Fury's got a plan up his sleeve to at least keep Vanko around."

"Let's hope not," Happy said he hurried along beside her. "That guy's got a few lug nuts loose."

Natasha snorted.

Ω

The group of six eleven year olds walked quietly in single file down the long tunnel away from the door they had just come through which led back to the Inferi pit.

Not many words were spoken as they walked along and the only sound that could be heard was that of their shoes as they walked down the metal pipe.

"How far beneath the school do you suppose we are?" Ron asked quietly.

"It wouldn't surprise me if we weren't even in the school any longer Ron," Harry supplied. "Falling through the trapdoor would have put us underneath the school and falling down into the Inferi pit would have put us even farther down. And now we're traipsing along underground through a pipe. It wouldn't surprise me if we were to come up through the earth now and find we were in the Forbidden Forest."

Susan gasped. "Surely we're not that far?"

"Like I said, it wouldn't surprise me," Harry replied grimly. "If Dumbledore built this entire place it's obvious no one was meant to get down here as the traps alone that we've seen so far should have killed us. If it weren't for a few well-placed spells and trinkets given to us by family members we would have been dead right now."

"Bloody hell," Ron grimaced looking a bit green in the dim light of their wands.

"What I want to know is far this bloody thing goes on for," Draco grumbled and Hermione chuckled.

"Patience Draco, we'll get to wherever we're going eventually.

"I certainly hope Longbottom and Dursley have managed to find some of the teachers," he continued.

"Well even if they were aware of where we are, we're still alone," Hermione put in.

She was beginning to seriously question her sanity in why she didn't tell her father about the Sorcerer's Stone when she had seen him last.

If she was completely honest with herself she had hesitated because she hadn't wanted to believe what was really hiding under the school was an infinity stone. The last thing she wanted was for her father to come and tear the school apart looking for it if it weren't really true. There were a lot of ancient artifacts in the magical world that were not infinity stones but were powerful at the same time and Hermione was hesitant to believe that such a powerful celestial object was really sequestered here on earth.

And now she was cursing herself for her stupidity in acting like a foolish Gryffindor and running down here to deal with something she didn't really know that much about.

She knew she couldn't afford to let Quirrel get her hands on the stone but at the same time…..she also wasn't her mother who had been trained to handle dangerous situations for years.

And it was for that reason, Hermione knew she needed help.

So while her friends walked on ahead, Hermione reached inside the collar of her school uniform and pulled out the gift her father had given her for Christmas, the silver bracelet with the same colored stones as her eyes.

Her mum had a way of contacting her father using the ruby necklace he had given her but Hermione had never used her own piece of jewelry to talk to her Asgardian dad. She wasn't even sure if it had the capabilities.

She took a deep breath and felt around in her pockets, hoping against hope that she had left her cellular device in her pocket. She may not have the means to contact her father but she did have the means to speak to her mum.

The time for secrecy had passed she supposed and if she was going to be in danger, she at least wanted to let her mother know and then maybe she could contact her father.

Hermione sighed in relief when she felt the familiar plastic in her pocket and pulled it out. She flipped it open and was just about to punch in the numbers for her mother when

Ron suddenly called out.

"What's that up ahead?"

Hermione looked up and caught sight of a light at the end of the tunnel rapidly coming towards them.

She and her friends picked up the pace and hurried forward and within a few seconds, they found themselves standing in the doorway of a massive room. The ceiling wasn't as high as the cavern they had just come from but it was high nonetheless.

It wasn't the height of the ceiling that caught her attention however but the décor because as high as the room was, it was also extremely wide and long and Hermione immediately began to feel how small she was just standing there.

"Bloody hell," Ron whispered.

_My sentiments exactly. _

They were standing at the edge of a massive maze. The walls that made up the barriers and lined the pathways were as tall as two of her standing on her head and they looked ancient like they had stood there for hundreds of years.

"We need to go through that?" Susan asked in a small voice.

The maze wove through the entirety of the room in a maze of different pathways and Hermione was surprised to see that there was only one way to enter.

There was no telling what they would find in there when they entered.

Draco cursed under his breath and reluctantly the group of friends turned into a circle to discuss what they would do.

"Alright," Draco said. "I've been nearly torn apart by a Cerberus, fallen down a hole, nearly been eaten by Inferi and now soaked to the skin and am standing before an enormous maze with Merlin knows what in it. We are in over our heads….we need some help."

"I agree," Hermione said and pulled out her cell phone.

"What's that?" Susan asked curiously.

"My cell phone," the strawberry blonde said calmly. "I'm calling my mum."

Harry looked a little relieved but Draco, Susan and Ron all exchanged glances.

"No offense Mione," the red head said. "But what can you mum do that can help us?"

Hermione gave her freckled friend a smirk. "When it comes to things this magical, probably not a lot. However she can contact someone who can. My father."

Instantly Harry looked relieved while her other friends looked confused.

"And how does that help us?" Susan asked.

Harry smirked at the other red head. "Once you meet Mione's dad…..well you'll understand. He's rather difficult to describe."

Luna gave Hermione an odd look but Hermione decided there was going to be a time coming when they would talk about their respective fathers but now wasn't the time.

She quickly pushed the buttons for her mother's number and silently prayed that she would pick up.

The phone rang three times before the line picked up and Natasha's crisp voice answered causing Hermione to want to melt in relief.

"Mum, it's me."

There was a long moment of silence and then Hermione heard something that she thought was a door closing before Natasha's voice came back on again.

"Mione, I was wondering when I would hear from you. I've been worried, are you alright?"

Hermione swallowed hard. "Mum have I called you at a bad time?"

Natasha paused. "I admit it's a little busy here but nothing that directly involves me. Stark has generated more problems than he has solved but Fury is handling it. What's going on?"

Hermione considered how much she was going to say and then decided it would be better if she just asked her mum to contact her dad and then explain all when the both of them inevitably got here.

"I'm kind of in trouble," she said and that was probably the wrong line to lead with because the other end of the line became very quiet.

"Hermione," her mother said in a deadly calm voice which conveyed the utmost seriousness. "Where are you and what is going on?"

"I'm at school," Hermione hurried to reassure her. "But I've kind of gotten in over my head with something big and I need dad's help but you're the only one who can contact him."

Natasha sighed. "Is this something that's going to cause your father and me to hit the roof?"

Hermione winced, dreading the conversation she knew was coming. "Kind of."

There was another long silence and then Natasha cursed in Russian causing Hermione grimace again because when her mother spoke in Russian, she was pissed.

"I'm going to ring off for a moment to contact your father and then I'm going to call you back and you're going to stay on the phone with me until he gets there. I'm going to clear up my responsibilities here as fast as I can and then I'm coming magical problems or no. He'll get to you faster than I will. Do you understand young lady?"

Hermione was rarely chastised by her mother but when she was, holy Merlin did she do it thoroughly.

"Yes mum," she replied wincing.

"Good. I'm going to call your father now and for the love of god pick up the phone when I call back. What should I tell him you're calling about? He'll want to know."

Hermione sighed and knew her mother would have no idea what she was talking about but that it was likely her father would explode into a million pieces when he learned what she was doing. "Just tell him it has something to do with Infinity Stones, he'll know what I mean."

There was a long silence on the other end where Natasha cursed again. "We're going to be having a very long conversation about keeping secrets when I see you againHermione Antonina Romanov Granger. Do exactly what I tell you and nothing else, do you understand me?"

Hermione winced again. "Yes mum."

She quickly rung off, eager to get off the phone.

"Well?" Harry asked the minute she was off the phone. "What did Aunt Tasha say?"

Hermione bristled as she put the phone away and squared herself. "She's going to call my dad. He should get here soon."

_I am in so much trouble._

Ω

Thor had just returned to his chambers after spending several hours in the sparring yard with Sif and was feeling particularly satisfied with his performance.

Ever since he had learned about the prophecy that Odin feared and had taken such horrible steps to prevent, he had been consciously avoiding both his father and his brother because he had no idea what to say to him.

The idea that if Odin knew about Hermione what he might do to her caused a red mist to descend over his eyes and his hands to shake with rage. The idea of her being snatched from him and chained like Loki's children was enough to make him want to tear Asgard to the ground and burn the ashes.

He knew his brother felt the same way about Luna and he shuddered to think of what his brother would do to Odin if he somehow learned the news of his small blonde daughter.

Thor had been tense for the last little while and had taken to training with a vengeance as if he were a rabid animal in order to take his mind off of what he had learned.

He wanted to sneak away to be with Natasha and tell her that he finally had learned the definitive reason as to why Odin had forbidden half Asgardian children.

But word had begun to spread about his coming coronation and thus he had been unable to leave.

He removed his tunic when he arrived in his chambers and splashed some water on his face to cool his body temperature before taking a few deep breaths.

Ever since he had learned about the prophecy he had been tense to say the least, not only because of what his father feared would happen but because of the extreme lengths he had gone to in order to try and prevent it.

_The all father's will has turned to madness, _the god thought tiredly. _He deprived my brother of his children and he would do the same to me if he ever learned of Hermione's existence._

He dried himself off and was about to put his tunic back on when all of a sudden a slight burning in his chest caught his attention.

He glanced down and cursed when he saw the identical ruby he was wearing about his neck, the same one that Natasha had was blinking.

At least this time he had been there when it had first started to signal him.

After bolting the door to his room, he pulled the gem from his throat and waved his hand over it. In an instant, Natasha's face appeared in the gem's surface.

"Natasha are you alright?" he asked quickly. "You normally never contact me like this unless it's something serious."

His wife's beautiful face was grim and her eyes were as hard as two emeralds. "I'm fine, but I'm afraid our daughter has gotten herself into a little more trouble than she bargained for at school."

"What do you mean?" Thor demanded.

"She didn't give me much information however she did say that it was something of the utmost importance and she said to tell you that it had something to do with Infinity Stones. She said you would know what that meant."

"WHAT?!"

Natasha raised an eyebrow. "So it's serious then?"

Thor ran a hand through his already unruly blonde hair. "It's more than serious Natasha. I knew something was wrong when she asked me about the stones earlier but I didn't think that – "

"What a minute. What are Infinity Stones and why is this such a problem?"

Thor sighed. "Natasha, Infinity Stones are very powerful objects created by the celestial deities long before I was a god. They were used to pass judgement on entire planets! If

Hermione is anywhere near one I need to know and I need to know right now. They are in incredibly dangerous!"

"Well I'm telling you now," Natasha said point blank. "I won't be able to get there as fast. Stark's business has me wrapped up in red tape and I have a feeling that you'll be able to diffuse this better than I can. I'll be there as soon as I can."

Thor nodded and rang off with his wife, donning his armor as fast as possible. He was muttering in Asgardian under his breath about what his daughter was possibly thinking being anywhere near an Infinity Stone and cursing himself for not picking up on her curiosity when she had asked about them earlier.

He had just taken hold of his hammer when there was a voice from the door.

"Where do you think you're going?"

Loki was standing in the doorway he had just bolted and Thor muttered out a curse in Asgardian. Leave it to his brother to have no concept of privacy.

"I'd have thought it obvious," he said as he gestured to his armor and the hammer.

Loki raised an eyebrow. "Going to war are we?"

Thor sighed in exasperation. "No I'm going to earth. Hermione's in trouble."

Instantly the easy smirk on the other god's face evaporated. "How?"

Thor knew Loki was thinking of his own daughter Luna who was good friends with Hermione and it made sense that whatever mischief that his daughter was into that Luna would be right there with her.

"Apparently my daughter has gotten herself into some trouble regarding Infinity Stones."

Thor had never seen his brother shocked before but in that instant Loki's face went from concerned to downright livid.

"What in Odin's name are they thinking?" he demanded through clenched teeth. "Are they trying to get themselves killed?"

Thor smirked. "An apt question brother and one I will learn the answer when I arrive in Midgard."

"He strode out of the door past his brother and was about to go down the hall when the god called out after him.

"I'm going with you."

Thor turned around and saw Loki's face was a cold mask of fury. He smirked. "Well come on then. The sooner we get there and deal with this the sooner we can return and not be missed."

Ω

Hermione had both of her knives out and in front of her when she and her friends entered the maze.

Everyone else had their wands out and were looking in all directions as they cautiously walked down the path into the enormous room and into the maze.

"This is bloody madness," Draco muttered and Hermione smirked.

"You're quite welcome to wait at the entrance until we come back Draco," she said and the blonde looked at her as if she were crazy.

"Don't be absurd. If you're going to try and break your neck the least I can do is go along and try to prevent it."

Not much more was said after that.

There was an air of quiet in the chamber and Hermione could practically feel every footstep she made on the stones echo throughout the enormous room. The maze walls were higher than her head and seemed to close in on her and her friends the farther that they walked.

The rock walls were carved with strange designs, and the dirt floor was ashy and sodden. And it was hot….very hot. They were really far down, Hermione realized.

She could feel the sweat sliding down her back and grimaced.

Just then her cell phone went off and nearly everyone except her jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Sorry," she whispered and yanked the thing out of her pocket and opened it up again to speak with Natasha. "Hey mum."

"I spoke with your father," the red head said sounding grim. "He's on his way."

Those were the words that had the power to inspire both fear and relief in Hermione although all she exhibited was a pensive look. "Okay."

"Sit tight until he gets there. As soon as I wrap up some business here I'll be on my way too."

"Oh mum you don't have to do that," Hermione protested wondering how this could possibly get any worse.

"Little girl you and I need to have words about some of the choices you've made and we are going to have it. I don't fully understand what's going on but your father does and if it's something big enough to make him lose his cool like he just did when I spoke to him than I know it's serious."

_Son of a bitch._

Hermione sighed. "Alright mum, I'm staying put, I won't do anything stupid until dad gets here."

She rang off and stared at the ceiling. "Merlin I am in so much trouble."

"So we're just supposed to wait here until this elusive father of yours decides to show up?" Draco asked. "No offense Granger but that kind of makes us like sitting ducks."

"You have no idea."

At the sound of the unfamiliar voice, the six first years whirled around to face this new threat.

But they weren't prepared for what they saw.

Standing several feet away from them inside of the maze was Professor Quirrel. He had a manic grin on his face and he was wearing his familiar garish robes. His eyes glittered with malice and almost something like insanity which forced the group of eleven year olds to take a step back.

But at the same time he looked different as well. The most noticeable indicator of that was the fact that his turban was slightly unwrapped, giving her a view of his scalp underneath. He had no hair and his bald head shone horribly in the dim light of the maze.

His hands were no longer shaky or twitching as Hermione was used to seeing them do and he appeared eerily steady. He also didn't stutter when he spoke that first time to them as well and Hermione had a terrible feeling that he had been putting on a charade all year for them with his stutter.

He was standing in the pathway of the maze blocking them from proceeding any further and Hermione tensed.

Quirrel spread his hands and took a step closer toward them, forcing the six of them to back away. "Surprised? So am I. It seems Dumbledore was smarter than I thought about protecting his precious stone. I nearly died several times trying to get down here. The bumbling fool put a great deal of effort into protecting his precious stone. No matter though, I will be getting my hands on it and no one, is going to stop me."

"What….What happened to your stutter?" Ron asked seemingly to develop one of his own.

"Oh that?" Quirrel asked, waving his hand as if he were swatting away a fly. "Very handy tool that was. After all who would suspect p-p-poor, st-stuttering P-Professor Quirrell?"

"But why?" Susan demanded. "Why go to so much trouble for a stone that you can't even touch?"

A wistful look came into Quirrel's eyes. "You really have no idea what that stone is do you? It is an object of such intense power that even those beyond this world seek to have it. It can destroy worlds remove and give magic, immense power for those who know how to use it. And it will all be mine."

"You don't know what you're talking about," Hermione said taking a step forward. "That stone is so powerful it can rip a person apart if they try to touch it. Only someone like a god or a cosmic deity can pick up that stone and live. You'll kill yourself if you try."

Instead of looking properly scared, Quirrel began to laugh. "Miss Hermione Antonina Romanov Granger. You honestly think I don't know that?" Hermione flinched at the mention of her full name.

"I've known for a year that Dumbledore had the stone and how powerful it was. I've known that since he removed it from Gringotts after I broke into the bank that he would do whatever was necessary to protect the stone even if it means using less than light methods to do it. It seems the leader of the light has a dark side after all. My master would love the irony."

"Your master," Draco said quietly. "You mean Voldemort don't you?"

"Do not speak his name!" Quirrel hissed. "You are not worthy to even think it much less utter it."

He sized the blonde up. "I am disappointed to see you here young Malfoy. Your father was one of my master's most trusted advisors before the Potter brat here ended his reign.

He would be very disappointed and ashamed to see you here with these weak minded fools."

Draco paled at the mention of his father.

"Alright," Hermione said cracking her knuckles. "Enough with the super villain monologue. What do you want? If you truly wanted the stone you would have gone and gotten it by now and been out of here before we got here."

"Very astute Miss Granger," Quirrel said softly and he took a step nearer to them. "You see you're right. I am a mortal man who serves a higher purpose. My master wants the stone and I will get it to him."

"You mean he was there in the classroom with you?" Harry gasped.

"Of course not," Quirrel said annoyed at being interrupted. "The old fool would have been able to sense his presence then. No he remains outside of the school, draining on the life forces of lesser beings until I can present the stone to him and obtain for him a new body. When the time comes which is very soon I am going to help him assume a new form."

"That was him in the forest," Hermione whispered in horrified realization about what had nearly happened to her and Luna a few months ago in the wood.

"Yes, he must always remain close at hand so when I obtain the stone he may take a new body but he could never set foot within the school grounds as the old fool will sense his presence."

"So this was all an act?" Hermione demanded. "You've played the role of a doddering stuttering professor all year to throw suspicion off yourself."

"Yes and it worked so well too," Quirrel replied. "I would have had the stone earlier but your foolish professor Snape came along and stopped me when I tried months ago."

"You let the troll in?" Luna demanded.

"Certainly. I have a special gift with trolls - you must have seen what I did to the one in the chamber back there? Unfortunately, while everyone else was running around looking for it, Snape, who already suspected me, went straight to the third floor to head me off - and not only did my troll fail to beat you to death, that three-headed dog didn't even manage to bite Snape's leg off properly."

The six eleven year olds exchanged glances. Hermione was this close to declaring war but there was something she needed to know first.

"How did you survive?" she asked. "There's six of us and only one of you and we had to use all of our wits in order to do it as well. You were by yourself."

Quirrel looked surprised for a second before a hint of grudging respect appeared in his eyes. "Very astute Miss Granger. You're wondering if I have used up most of my magical energy defeating the Inferi and getting past the Cerberus. Well I'm sorry to disappoint you but I am not at all fatigued. The truth is I had someone else help me do all of that."

"Let me speak to them... face-to-face..."

At the sound of a deep laboured hissing voice Hermione and all the rest of her friends stiffened up. Harry's face turned pale as he had heard that voice before.

The sound of it sent chills down Hermione's spine. It was deep, and ancient and weary but full of an insatiable malice and evil that wouldn't be satisfied until it got what it wanted.

"Master, you are not strong enough!" Quirrel protested for some reason trying to roll his eyes to the back of his head.

"I have strength enough... for this..."

Hermione felt as if Devil's Snare was rooting her to the spot. She couldn't move a muscle. Petrified, she watched as Quirrell reached up and began to unwrap his turban.

_What the hell is going on?  
_

The turban fell away. Quirrell's head looked strangely small without it. Then he turned slowly on the spot.

Hermione would have backed away, but she couldn't even move. She had seen a lot of things and heard a lot of things from her mother about her work and what she had had to do while she was still with the Red room. But this was by far the most horrid and grotesque thing she had ever seen.

Where there should have been a back to Quirrell's head, there was a face, the most terrible face she had ever seen. It was chalk white with glaring red eyes and slits for nostrils, like a snake.

"Hello children…." It whispered.

Ron looked like he was about to throw up or pass out or both and Draco didn't look far from it either. The dreamy expression had slipped from Luna's face and she was muttering furiously about possession and Nargles. Susan was gripping her wand tightly a look of terrified determination on her face and Hermione didn't even want to see what she looked like.

It was obvious that when Quirrell had said he would help his master attain a new body that he was planning on sharing his own with the spirit until the time came. Hermione absently wondered how on earth the spirit or wraith of Lord Voldemort had managed to survive out in the forest…..feeding off of the other pitiful life forms if this was as grotesque as he looked after all of that.

"See what I have become?" the face said. "Mere shadow and vapor ... I have form only when I can share another's body... but there have always been those willing to let me into their hearts and minds... Unicorn blood has strengthened me, these past weeks... you saw me drinking it in the forest... and once I have the Elixir of Life from the sorcerer's stone, I will be able to create a body of my own... Now…as….lovely as this discourse has all been….three of you are going….to play…an integral role….in my obtaining a new…..body. And they are….Miss Lovegood….Mr. Potter…..and Miss Granger."

"What do you want with us?" Harry demanded.

"I….would have thought….it obvious…Mr. Potter," the face said laboriously. "I have a score to settle with you…..and Miss Lovegood and Miss Granger are the…only one who…..can touch the stone without….being incinerated."

"How the bloody hell is that possible?" Susan demanded. "We read than an Infinity Stone is so powerful that it can incinerate mortals who even put a nail on it!"

The face gave Hermione and Luna a look that was almost gleeful. "Oh….so you haven't told them….."

"Told us what?" Ron demanded.

"Haven't you ever wondered…." The face went on. "How Miss Lovegood can freeze things with a snap of her fingers and Miss Granger can draw on heat and manipulate electricity to burn those she wants?"

Harry, Draco, Ron and Susan were all staring at the two girls as if they had never seen them before and Harry ventured a question.

"Mione? What's he talking about?"

Fortunately for Hermione and Luna in that moment, the face of Voldemort seemed to be losing patience.

"Not many magical children are blessed to have parents like the two of you have," the face sounding almost wistful. I could feel both of your magic when you fought me out in the woods. The both of you are incredibly powerful and yet you are still caught up on childish ideas of right and wrong. There is no right and there is no wrong…..there is only power….and those too weak to seize it."

"What is going on here?" Draco demanded. "Would someone talk straight for once?"

The face of Voldemort went on as if he hadn't heard him. "With a power like the two of you have by my side the world would be ours."

_This is all a little too bizarre, _Hermione thought absently as she furiously searched for a way that they could get out of this. There was barely any light or heat in this room so the chances of her manipulating it to form electricity were slim. Luna might have better luck with the ice as it seemed that she didn't have to rely on anything else for it to work.

Quirrel could summon her wand but thank god for wandless magic. It just might be enough to buy them all some time until her dad got here.

_If I ever get out of this alive I promise I'll never do something this stupid ever again._

So she took a deep breath and prepared herself to do something even more stupid.

"Thanks for the offer," the strawberry blonde said. "But you're a little too melodramatic for my taste. You have no originality whatsoever and repeating the same speeches over and over can become sort of tiresome. You need to come up with some new material."

The face of Voldemort twisted in rage and he opened his mouth to no doubt continue his tedious monologues but just then something else interrupted them.

Dumbledore's maze had been designed to do two things, the first was to keep out all other intruders who wanted to take the stone for themselves.

The other was if that person somehow managed to get into the maze that the maze itself would kill the person before they managed to get out.

And this was exactly what happened.

With a rumble the ground began to shake and the earth was rent open as rocky hands and heads pushed their way to the surface.

Hermione and all the rest watched in horror as what appeared to be humanoid rock monsters armed with stone weapons forced their way out of the earth and stood before them, brandishing their blades.

They were at least six feet tall and had hard chiseled features and blank eyes. One of them stepped behind the group, blocking the tunnel that they came through so they couldn't run back that way and escape.

"Well this is certainly new," Luna muttered. "I wonder if they are any relation to the Nargles."

"Run!" Harry yelled.

Quirrell let out a shriek of fear and Hermione could hear Voldemort yelling. "Stop them you fool! Don't let them get away!"

Fortunately, thanks to Luna's quick thinking she froze Quirrel to the floor in a patch of ice before he could do anything to them.

After that, all hell broke loose.

Ω

Hermione and her friends really had no direction about where they ran in the maze, all they knew was they had to get away from the rock monsters that were chasing them down.

She could hear Quirrel screeching in fear in the background and the voice of Voldemort bellowing at him to move his worthless self and do something but at the moment the dark lord and his minion were the last thing on her mind.

_Dad where the hell are you? _She thought as she and her friends dashed down the path of the maze, around walls and down again.

_There has got to be a way out of here._

The pounding behind them grew louder and Hermione risked a glance back to see that one of the monstrous figures behind them was gaining.

She looked ahead and then realized that the end was near.

In their mad dashed panic to get to the other end of the maze, they had inadvertently stumbled upon the exit.

There was a small door just ahead of them on their right that they would have to crawl through but Hermione had a feeling that this was what they were looking for. The walls of the maze blocked either side of the path and Hermione knew there was only one way to go and that was forward.

Unfortunately at that moment, one of the monsters decided to jump in front of them and brandish its weapon with a peculiar screeching roar that sounded like two rocks with a piece of metal in between them being rubbed together.

Ron let out an odd squeal and put his hands over his ears.

Luna jumped up next to Hermione who had pulled her knives from her shoes once more. "What do you want to do?"

"Why are you asking me?" the strawberry blonde demanded.

"Because you seem to be the leader of this odd group of friends we have at the moment and because you always seem to have a plan."

Hermione nodded. "All we need is a distraction. I'll go right, you go left. See if you can freeze his feet to the floor. That should distract him long enough for us to get through the door. But for god sakes be careful."

Luna nodded and in her typical Luna fashion began to skip towards the monster, dancing around it as it jabbed its stone weapon at her and throwing ice shards about its feet so that it might slip.

In the meantime, Hermione was about to attempt something that was dangerous and more than a little stupid.

_Ah well even if I die now it will save from Mum having to kill me later. Hopefully I'll get a decent burial._

Hermione had never tried to conjure her own electricity before but she also knew that magic was a certain type of energy from ones core that she used to perform spells so why shouldn't bodily energy work the same way that external energy did.

That being said, Hermione could practically feel the electricity sizzling in her blood so she took a deep breath….and let it out.

She clapped her hands together and then pulled them apart. The air between her hands, sizzling thickened and then a rope of pure electricity appeared. It tingled against her hands but didn't burn them thankfully.

She felt a draw on her energy but it wasn't as much as she was expecting which was a blessing.

Hermione took a deep breath, and then whipped the rope around so it caught hold of the monster's stone weapon and a thick rope of electricity was caught between her hands and the monster's weapon just as it made to drive it downward at Luna who was still throwing ice shards at it.

The monster frowned, seeing the electrical rope attached to its blade, pulled harder at it trying to free itself and Hermione was dragged forward.

"Go!" she yelled at her friends who were watching her in shock. "Get through the door!"

There was only a moment's hesitation before they charged past the distracted monster and slid down on their sides through the door.

Harry snatched Luna's hand as he went past, tugging her along with them, leaving Hermione alone with the monster.

She gave one last tug on its weapon as hard as she could before she let go of the rope entirely and dashed for the door.

She just made it too. The monster recovered quickly enough and swung its blade at her, missing her head by a fraction of an inch before she slid through the small door and into another dark room.

A hand appeared from Draco and Hermione grasped it so he could pull her to her feet. When she was once again upright, the strawberry blonde bent at the knees gasping for

breath. She underestimated how much effort making that whip and using had taken.

"Are you alright Mione?" Harry asked.

"And what the hell was Quirrel talking about back there?" Draco demanded. "What kind of power are you and Lovegood hiding that we don't know about because if what I saw out there was any indication than I'd say you've been keeping from pretty damn big secrets!"

Just then Luna broke in. "Look I don't know how much time we have before Quirrell might be on us. I didn't put a lot of effort into freezing him because we didn't have much time but any second now he might get free and come after us. The rock monsters outside of this room might buy us some time but we're running out of it."

As if to punctuate that statement there was a distant roar and the walls around them trembled.

Harry took a deep breath. "Alright we'll reserve all questions for later. For right now we need to find out where the bloody hell we are and how to get to the stone because that seems to be our only option for defending ourselves right now."

Everyone blinked and looked around as their eyes began to adjust to the light and then they realized that they were in a room not quite as big as the one with the maze and the ceiling was much lower.

They were also standing on a ledge looking down into a large pit from which a deep red glow was emanating.

Carefully the six eleven year olds walked to the edge and looked down before they let out a series of mixed reactions.

Ron gulped, Susan Draco and Hermione cursed. Harry let out a deep sigh and Luna merely began to hum.

"Is that Fiendfyre?" the Hufflepuff asked when she had gotten over her exasperation. "How on earth did Dumbledore manage to produce it so that it didn't depend on a spell? I thought that was impossible."

"I'm beginning to think that there are many things we don't know about our dear headmaster," Hermione muttered.

The pit wasn't as deep as the one with the Inferi, however it was still about fifty yards down into the earth. They couldn't even see the bottom of it for the red flames of the ever living Fiendfyre that were blazing without the help of a spell.

If they fell into that, there would be no electricity or freezing to save them.

Hermione then looked across the pit and saw that there was only one way to do it. There were a series of stone steps suspended in mid-air across the expanse of the pit leading to the other side which seemed at least a football field away. They were moving back and forth and were about the size of one of their school desks so perhaps two people could fit on them at once. Some were going back and forth, others were moving side to side across the expanse of the pit. At certain times they would pass close to the one another but they would never touch.

And then in the middle of the room, suspended over a stone that was not moving was what they had come down that room in the third floor corridor to try and prevent from being stolen.

Hanging suspended in the air over the tall rock like a tantalizing pastry just waiting to be snatched by a greedy child was a white stone the size of Hermione's fist. It was about two inches thick and shot through with veins of pastel color, favoring salmon and turquoise. It reminded her of an opal. Even from the distance they were standing at she could feel the power radiating out from it like electricity.

And she knew that Dumbledore had placed the stone there in such a way that magic wouldn't be able to help them get to it.

"That sly bastard," she muttered and everyone turned to her.

"What are you talking about Mione?" Susan asked.

"This is one test that's not going to work with magic," Hermione said. "If I were to cast an _accio_ at the stone you can bet it wouldn't come to me. It's an infinity stone, I read that you can't perform any type of magic on it because it's so powerful. In order to get to it, we're going to have to use physical means."

"You mean we're going to have to play leap frog over a pit of Fiendfyre in order to get to it?" Draco asked.

"In the vernacular….yes."

"Great….just brilliant."

Draco was so pale he almost looked ghostlike in the dim light. His features went from determined to terrified every few seconds.

Hermione swallowed hard. "The rest of you wait here. I'll see if I can get to it."

"Don't be insane!" Susan burst out. "You're exhausted. Whatever magic you pulled out of your hat out there must have tired you out because you look like you're going to drop. I'll go."

"Didn't you hear Quirrell Susie?" Harry asked. "It's seems that only Hermione or Luna can get their hands on the stone because of….whatever power it is that they have that we don't know about. Although I can guess."

He gave her a meaningful look that clearly meant he wanted to discuss this later.

"It's settled then," Luna said calmly. "I'll go."

"No," Hermione said. "We should both go. Whatever Quirrel was talking about, it might be better for the both of us to hold the stone. If it's as powerful as I'm sure it is it might be easier for the both of us to hold on to it. Though I'd sure like to know why he thinks that."

Luna nodded.

"Are you sure about this Granger?" Draco asked and for a moment he actually looked rather concerned. "Do you have any idea what you're getting yourself into?"

"I'd like to think so," Hermione said. "But the truth is I'm not entirely certain. All I know is that we don't really have any back up plans at this point. We can't afford to let Quirrell get his hands on the stone and if he's been serving as a host to Lord Voldemort than he might be able to use his spirit to pick up the stone."

"Well we can't have that happen," Luna said and she took Hermione's hand. "Come on Mione, we still have some time."

They had no sooner hopped onto the first moving stone away from the platform they were standing on over the pit of Fiendfyre when there came a crash from the entrance of the room.

Harry, Draco, Ron and Susan jumped away from the door and backed away to the wall on the opposite side as far as they could get from it.

And Hermione was filled with dismay when she saw the now bare head of Professor Quirrell poke through the door.

Immediately, the four friends they had left on the platform yanked their wands from their pockets and pointed them at the demented professor. His robes were covered in dust and rock debris and there was a long trail of blood leading from the top of his head down to his chin and dripping on the floor. His nose was broken and he was panting heavily.

But there was no disguising the look of unadulterated glee on his face when he took in the scene before him.

"Well done Miss Lovegood, Miss Granger. You've done my work for me. Now all I have to do is keep Mr. Potter, Mr. Malfoy, Mr. Weasley and Miss Bones here until you get the stone for me. And you won't do anything rash seeing as how your friends are at my mercy."

Harry and Ron looked furious, Susan looked determined and Ron looked pale but they all brandished their wands at him.

However just as the words to a spell rose to Hermione's lips, Quirrel swung his own wand in a wide sweeping arc and without a word all of their own leapt from their hands and shot towards him which he nimbly caught.

Hermione and Luna exchanged horrified looks.

"Excellent….." the voice of Voldemort murmured from the back of Quirrell's head. "Use….the girls….fetch me….the stone."

His voice seemed a little weaker than when they had spoken before and Hermione picked up on it.

They might be able to use that to their advantage.

The stone was still moving her and Luna like a conveyor belt to the other side of the pit but both of their eyes were trained on Quirrel like shot gun barrels. He was holding their friends at wand point and Hermione was thinking furiously of what to do.

All they needed was one small distraction.

"We'll stand a better chance of getting the stone if we split up," she whispered to the blonde who nodded. "I'll go right to that stone that's coming up on us. You stay here and go left when the next one comes toward you."

"No talking!" Quirrell snapped, his eyes not leaving Harry, Draco, Susan and Ron who looked afraid but determined.

Hermione and Luna were both coming forward on the stone again and Hermione caught sight of another large stone that was crossing over the top of the pit sideways. The stone they were on would go right past it in three….two….one.

Without even thinking about it, Hermione leapt for the stone and landed on it hard. She took several deep breaths to calm her racing heart beat before forcing herself to her knees and looking around for Luna.

The blonde had leapt onto the stone going left and nimbly managed to get to her feet. Quirrell took a second to check their progress before he looked back at their friends.

And then Harry used the opportunity to speak up.

"So while you have us here," he said slowly ignoring the looks of Ron Susan and Draco to shut up. "Would you mind telling me what you're going to do with this stone when you have it?"

Hermione realized then that Harry was trying to distract Quirrell and buy them some time and she felt a surge of affection for her friend. Harry had never been one to take things lying down and he always like to bend the rules.

It was probably why he had made it into Slytherin.

"Unless you wish to join the Dark Lord Potter, his plans for the stone are none of your concern," Quirrell said.

"What are you his mouth piece now?" Harry taunted. "Last time I checked he had a mouth. Why doesn't he tell me that himself?"

Quirrell looked like he was about to explode but then the voice of the Dark Lord broke in. "Very….bold….Potter. I'll…..need followers….who will….go the….extra…..mile."

In the meantime Hermione was eyeing a stone that was once again going vertically across the pit and preparing herself to jump for it.

Luna seemed to be making decent progress as well as she had just hopped on to her second stone as well. The stone wobbled, giving both girls a near heart attack before Luna threw herself forward and grabbed hold of the stone with all of her might.

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief. Her limbs were trembling from stress and the effort of managing to keep herself upright.

_You're almost there Granger, _she thought grimly to herself. _If Quirrell's right and you and Luna are the only ones who can get your hands on that stone than you only have to hold on for a little bit longer and then you can blast this sucker to bits._

She locked eyes with Luna and they both eyed the stone nearest them, which coincidentally would float past the stones they were both gripping at the same time.

The whole area over the pit was filled with large flat stones magically suspended in midair moving back and forth and Hermione was coming to realize that it was only the infinity stone that was keeping the other ones moving and the Fiendfyre going without a spell.

They were nearing the center of the pit and every few seconds Quirrel would glance over to check their progress.

They must have been moving fast enough for him for he said nothing to them and kept verbally sparring with Harry.

Hermione glanced and Luna, gestured with her eyes to the large flat stone nearest them and nodded at her before mouthing _on three._

The blonde nodded and both mentally counted to three before leaping for the stone at the same time.

The good news was that they both made it.

The bad news was that they both landed on it at the same time, Hermione first and Luna second.

As a result of the different weights coming at it from different angles, the stone pitched forward and then began to tilt so they were both beginning to move upside down as the stone rolled over and they were on the bottom of it, suspended over the pit of Fiendfyre.

"Hold….on….Luna," Hermione said with her eyes closed and the words forced out from between clenched teeth.

It was a tense ten seconds before the stone slowly began to roll back right-side up and the two of them breathed a sigh of relief when they could loosen their hold on the sides of the stone and sit up.

Over on the platform, Susan had been gripping Draco's arm in a death grip watching what happened and only slightly relaxed when it was revealed that Hermione and Luna were okay.

Slowly both girls got to their feet and gave each other haggard grim smiles. They were almost there.

The stone was only about ten feet away now and they were so close.

And that was when disaster struck.

"What's taking so long?" Quirrell demanded and Hermione growled at him.

"We're going as fast as we can," Hermione ground out tersely.

Her answer must have irritated Quirrell because he twirled his wand and just then Susan was yanked forward, kicking and scratching against the magic.  
As soon as she was within arm's reach, Quirrel snatched her by the arm and placed the tip of his wand against her temple causing the air of tension in the room to rise to heart

attack proportions.

"I'll make it easier for you then," he said in a menacing voice. "In the next ten seconds, you have the stone and will be bringing it back here to me or Miss Bones will be the first casualty as a result of what happened today."

"Well….done….my servant." The voice of Voldemort almost sounded impressed.

Hermione bit her lip and decided then, her horror mounting that there was no time to waste. She leapt for the next stone, not taking as much care with her safety as she probably should have in her effort to prevent Susan from getting hurt.

But there was a reason Susan was Amelia Bones' niece and it had nothing to do with standing or family name.

And it seemed she had no intention of going quietly.

In the next fifteen seconds several things happened.

The first was that Susan stomped down as hard as she could on Quirrel's foot causing him to yell out in pain, breaking his hold on her.

The second was that Harry lunged forward and pushed Susan out of the way before knocking Quirrel to the ground.

The third thing was that the moment his hands made contact with Quirrel's head the both of them screamed out in pain as if they had been stabbed a thousand times. Harry fell back onto his side clutching his forehead and crying out in pain.

The fourth thing was Voldemort screeching at his minion to get to his feet and kill all of the brats and finally the fifth thing was that Hermione made a flying leap for the middle of the room and landed on the rock with the Infinity Stone hanging in mid-air above it.

She could feel the charged air around the stone and the hairs on the back of her neck stood up the closer she got to it.

There didn't seem to any resistance around it and she knew she only had a few seconds to do what she needed to do.

Taking a deep breath as it was all she had time for Hermione reached out and with the last of her strength seized hold of the stone.

Time seemed to slow after that.

Hermione felt heavy, as if she were holding the weight of the world on her shoulders and immediately her strength began waning fast. A white light seemed to emanate from the stone and blinded her with its brightness.

She felt a deep power coursing through her like a rushing river, so deep and so strong she began to shake with the force of it. She felt her skin begin to ripple from the sheer energy that she was holding on to.

It was painful and it was wonder and for a moment Hermione wondered if the stone would tear her apart, if she could contain the force of nature she was holding on to.

Her trembling became even more pronounced and for a moment, she thought she was going to fall into the Fiendfyre and her death.

Just then an arm wrapped around her waist and another hand came out of nowhere and grasped the other side of the stone.

She looked to her left and realized that Luna had made it onto the large flat rock as well and with her other hand, reached out and seized hold of the stone along with her.

Instantly the feeling as if she were folding back a tidal wave became noticeably less and she almost sagged with relief once again retaining control of her senses. It had honestly felt as if her brain and limbs weren't her own any more.

"No!" she heard Quirrell scream.

And then the most welcome sound she had ever heard in her life met her ears.

"WHAT IN ODIN'S NAME IS GOING ON HERE?!"

_Dad._

There was a screech and she looked up from the Infinity Stone in time to see a spirit rise from the body of Quirinius Quirrell and escape through the walls.

There was a flash of light and then she saw her father standing on the wide stone with her and Luna along with another dark haired man with blazing jade eyes that she had never seen before, but she had a guess as to who it was.

_Uncle Loki._

At the same time, both Luna and Hermione released their hold on the stone and dropped to the floor of the rock…..exhausted and breathing hard.

Thor managed to catch Hermione before she hit the stone and Loki did the same thing for Luna.

Hermione had no words as her father's arms enclosed her against his chest. All she could do was lean into his embrace and try to retain control of her raging emotions, speechless with relief.

She heard through the fog a distant snap of the fingers, but other than that all she was aware of was the fact that her father was here and that the danger was over.

Several long minutes passed and Hermione focused solely on her breathing as the fact that it was all over registered in her brain.

Thor kissed the top of her head and Hermione felt an overwhelming sense of security which was what usually happened whenever her father embraced her.

"Are you alright little spark?" he asked her and she could only nod as words were failing her at the moment.

Finally after what seemed like an hour and she felt both physically and emotionally stable enough to do so, she and Thor slowly withdrew from each other.

Hermione realized then that her father was dressed for war in his armor and red cloak along with Mjolnir attached to his belt.

The last time she had seen him in his armor, she had been four.

It was then that she caught sight of Luna being embraced by the other dark haired man whom her father had brought with him rather familiarly.

He was whispering in her ear and she was nodding slowly as if he were encouraging her and she was taking it in.

It suddenly began to register with Hermione what she was seeing.

This was Luna's elusive father, the one she had been talking about all year, the one who had given her the moonstone bracelet she was wearing and which she had never taken off and the one she seemed to get her odd ice powers from.

Her father was Loki.

The god she had never met who was her uncle that Thor had told her all about was a father to one of her closest friends and she had had no clue.

Which meant that she and Luna were cousins.

Hermione shot a questioning gaze at her father just to confirm what she was thinking and a slow nod from him made her feel limp all over again.

All of a sudden it made sense why she and Luna got along so well and why they just seemed to click as a team and how Luna was rapidly becoming one of those people that

Hermione would trust to have her back almost more so than Harry and Dudley.

She had to swallow a few times before her dry throat allowed her to speak.

"Uncle….Uncle Loki?"

She hated the fact that the words came out rather squeakily but at the moment it couldn't be helped.

The dark haired god looked up from Luna who finally seemed to have gotten herself together and was wiping tears from her eyes.

He took her in, from her strawberry blonde hair to her large blue green eyes and carefully helped Luna to her feet before he walked towards her.

After a moment, he turned to Thor and smirked at him. "I have to say brother, she takes after her mother more."

Thor rolled his eyes Hermione absently wondered if this was the way it was all the time with the two of them on Asgard, if this back and forth banter was something they had done for hundreds of years.

"Natasha would probably say the same thing," Thor muttered good-naturedly.

Loki turned back to Hermione and his smile became genuine before he knelt down in front of her so he could look her in the face as he was so tall.

"I finally get to properly meet my niece," he said. "The last time I saw you, you were nestled in your father's arms in the hospital and you were still red."

Hermione managed to smirk at him and shrugged. "I've been told it's a good color on me."

Loki mirrored her smirk. "She is most definitely Natasha's daughter."

"Wait a minute," Luna said finally speaking up. "This means that we're cousins Mione. I knew it wasn't the Nargles just messing with me!"

She glared at her father. "Why didn't you tell me?"

He raised an eyebrow at her. "Given how much trouble the both of you are in, I don't think asking questions is part of the bargain right now."

Both Hermione and Luna had the good sense to look a bit sheepish.

Finally, both of the gods looked up and took notice the Infinity Stone suspended in mid-air above their heads.

"So this is where it's been hiding all these years," Loki murmured. "The elusive sorcerer's stone has been hiding down on Midgard for thousands of years and no one was the wiser."

He reached out a hand and took hold of the stone with no more effort that if he was picking up an article of clothing that had been dropped.

Instantly the glow of white light around it faded and it appeared like no more than an abnormally large pearl.

Finally the god of secrets and lies turned to them after examining the stone and then handing it to Thor to look at and he looked incredibly grim.

"Would you both mind telling me what on earth you were thinking going after something this dangerous?" he asked quietly and Hermione grimaced.

She glanced at her father and saw his arms folded across his chest, eyes trained on her and she knew she wasn't going to get any help from him either.

"We didn't actually want it," she began. "The idea was to prevent him from getting it."

At this she pointed to the body of Quirrel who was lying on the ground on the platform of stone several feet away.

Both gods turned to give the man a look before exchanging a glance that said a lot of things were being talked about without words.

It was in that moment that Hermione realized that thought all of her friends seemed fine, they weren't moving.

Harry had managed to get to his feet, though his hands were still on his head before he had been frozen. Susan was somewhere between him and Draco and Ron who looked like they had been in the process of dashing forward when they had been frozen. Their eyes were unblinking and they didn't seem to be at all aware of what had happened. It

was like someone had frozen them in time.

"It's a stationary spell," Loki told her when she noticed her staring. "It freezes them in the moment. Don't worry, their fine."

"Good," Luna said.

"Back to the matter at hand," Thor continued. "What made you think that this was something you could handle that your teachers couldn't?"

Surprisingly, it was Luna who spoke up this time. "Not all of them were here. The headmaster and Hermione's head of house were away at a conference and when one of the teachers tried to stop him but was injured and knocked out in the process. We didn't really have very many options."

"And so you felt you could succeed where the teacher's couldn't?" Loki asked. "What have I taught you little moon?"

Luna looked a little ashamed. "I couldn't let Hermione come down here alone. She was going to because she knew what the stone and what it was capable of in the wrong hands. We didn't think we could beat Quirrell we just wanted to buy the other teachers some time in order to get here."

"And you almost got yourself killed in the process," Thor said and from the hard look in his blue eyes, Hermione could tell that he wasn't impressed.

She sighed. "I'm sorry. But I truly didn't think I had any other choice. We didn't know what kind of protections our headmaster had placed around the stone and – "

"We only wanted to get to the stone before Quirrel did, and buy the other teacher's some time," Luna explained looking glum.

Thor and Loki exchanged another look before the latter heaved a sigh. "I'm glad you're both alright. But what you've done was incredibly dangerous not to mention incredibly foolish. From the looks of this place, no one was meant to come down here. These are somewhat protections to be created by a mortal."

Hermione exchanged a glance with Luna and knew the blonde was thinking the same thing. "Um, about that."

Thor turned to his daughter. "Yes?"

"Why was it…..that Luna and I were able to hold onto the stone? We read in one of the books here that mortals wouldn't be able to even touch an Infinity Stone without it burning them to ash and that only gods or higher order beings would be able to hold on to it. So why could we?"

Again both gods exchanged a look and their grim expressions changed to one of complete blankness.

"It may have something to do with your mortality," Loki said somewhat heavily and Hermione wondered why it looked as if it almost pained him to say it. "The both of you are half god and your blood may have contributed to the fact that you were able to hold onto the stone for as long as you could without it turning you to ash."

Hermione felt like she was about to burst with questions but a look from her father silenced them for the moment.

"I believe we should heading back to the surface so some damage control might be completed," he said and then turned to Hermione. "But I think you're going to have a bit of a rough time of it little spark."

Hermione squared her shoulders. "I'm prepared. I had a feeling when I called mum for help I was in for it. You talked to her?"

Thor nodded, and seemed a little amused. "She said she's going to wrap up some business for Director Fury regarding Tony Stark and she will be here as soon as she can."

"She's coming here?" Hermione asked in dismay.

Things seemed to be going from bad to worse.

Thor nodded and Loki waved his hand in a horizontal motion. Hermione was about to ask her uncle what he was doing when a crackling sound garnered her attention.

A thick sheet of ice was spreading out from the stone on which they were standing and soon enough it covered the entire pit in an icy platform on which they could walk back to where Hermione and Luna's friends were.

_So that's where Luna gets it from, _Hermione thought absently.

"If it makes you feel any better," Luna whispered as the two of them walked behind their fathers. "My mum's not going to happy either. I have a feeling I'm going to be grounded for a month this summer. Which means I can't go searching for the Crumple Horned Snorkack."

For a moment a smile lifted Hermione's lips before her expression turned grim again. "You don't know my mum Luna. But if she's coming here than you will. Trust me….I'm dead."

Ω

**So...that was an extremely long chapter. Don't worry, we'll get to see more Loki, Luna, Hermione, Thor, Natasha family moments next chapter. I was going to include more in this one, but this chapter was already almost thirty pages and I thought that was plenty. We'll hear more about the sorcerer's stone in that chapter too and don't worry Natasha is going to ream Hermione out for being so foolish as to do what she did. First year is almost over and I'm very excited for their second year as I have several big plans to put into action. I hope you guys enjoy the chapter and don't forget to review!**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32

When you're a worried mother and an international espionage agent, there will come a time when those two things will clash and you will inevitably wind up being overcome by cognitive dissonance.

That was currently what was happening to Natasha Romanov right now.

She was standing in SHIELD headquarters that was currently at Stark Tech at the moment, watching on a large screen as Stark and Rhodes went head to head with at least a dozen Hammer Drones and Iron Man suits being controlled by Vanko from God knew where.

Her mind however was currently a thousand miles away in England with Thor and her daughter and wondering what on earth could possibly be so dangerous that it would make her husband lose his cool as he had done.

_Infinity Stones….just what the _hell _are Infinity Stones?!_

It didn't help that she kept twirling her cell phone in her pocket, waiting for it to vibrate and having to force herself to remain bolted to the floor so no one would think anything was wrong.

Natasha had perfected her expressionless face, making sure her eyes gave away nothing when really behind them she was seething and it was taking all of her ability to focus on portraying that and not her tense rage at not knowing what was going on.

Pepper didn't seem to be in any better condition than she was although her worries were for a much different reason. She was practically biting her nails as she watched Stark and Rhodes duke it out with the drones from where they were watching.

All Natasha saw was a bunch of high powered idiots bashing themselves to pieces while wearing suits of armor.

The height of solving a problem in an intellectual way.

She fiddled with the necklace about her throat. It was the only piece of jewelry she would wear to work and the only one who had noticed her wearing it was Barton. He had asked her about it once, but all that she had said was that it was a gift before they had both parachuted out of a plane so it hadn't been brought up again.

_Would you bastards wrap this up? _She thought as she ground her teeth together, the only sign that she was visibly displeased. _I need to set my international portkey to England so I can get the hell out of here and find out why my husband flipped his lid when I told him what our daughter was asking about!_

"You seem tense Romanov," Fury observed without even looking in her direction as he stood beside her. "Everything alright?"

"Perfectly alright sir," Natasha said in a voice that gave away nothing.

Fury made a sound deep in his throat like he didn't believe her and moved back over to the computer screen to speak to Pepper.

There had been very few times in Natasha's life where she was so enraged she wanted to rip out her long red curls by the roots.

This was one of those times.

After taking several deep breaths and maintaining her even stance, she began chanting a mantra she hadn't ever used since she was a little girl over and over in her head.

_It'll all be over soon…..It'll all be over soon…..It'll all be over soon….._

Ω

Hermione had a massive headache.

Before they had exited the underground hell den that Dumbledore had installed to guard the stone, her Uncle Loki had informed her that he had used the stationary spell on every member in the castle so that he and Thor wouldn't be seen until they wished it and every one of their friends was brought back up to the hospital wing to get checked out.

Hermione sighed with relief, because as much as she loved her friends, explaining to them that she and Luna were both the daughters of gods was not something she wanted to do right now.

Thus she was very glad that her father and uncle had given everyone some space to breathe before all hell broke loose and the teachers converged on them like a tidal wave.

Thor had ported them all to the hospital wing, including her friends who were still in a state of immobility and the two gods had sat the two girls down on the bed in the midst of all of it.

Madam Pomphrey was still in the hospital wing and had a look of panic on her face before she had been frozen. Professor McGonagall was there as well and she looked positively enraged before Uncle Loki had frozen her.

In that moment, Hermione was glad that Professor Snape was her head of house.

When they had all congregated into the hospital wing, stationary figures, including the form of Quirrell and those who could still walk, the two gods turned to the two eleven year olds.

"Now," Loki said taking command of the conversation before anyone else could speak and Thor looked as if he were trying not to roll his eyes. "Before we can reanimate everyone in this castle there are a few things that need to be said and a few questions that need to be answered."

Hermione and Luna exchanged glances before seating themselves on one of the beds side by side. "Ask away. I suppose now is as good a time as any for the truth."

The ghost of a smirk crossed Loki's features before he once more turned serious. He held up the Infinity Stone that he was still holding on to.

"Do the both of you have any idea how dangerous this is?" he asked and Hermione and Luna looked at each other.

"Only what we've read in the books here," Luna offered. "But I'm sure the Nargles had something to do with the writing in those. When Hermione and I touched it, it seemed a lot more powerful than the books had said."

"That is because the written word will never be able to fully capture the definition or the essence that is an Infinity Stone," Thor continued taking the stone from his brother.

"This gem has been around for thousands of years and was part of a set of seven that were created by the cosmic deities, beings far powerful than either of us."

"We know," Hermione said. "The other six are the Power Stone, the Mind Stone, the Reality Stone, the Time Stone, the Soul Stone, the Space Stone and now this one. The cosmic deities used them to cast judgment on planets."

"I'm afraid you still don't fully understand my dear niece," Loki said as he sat down on the bed opposite them while Thor remained standing. "Think about what it is that you have just said. These seven stones and most likely the one in this room right now have used to end the existences of entire planets. They have been sought after, coveted, and killed for, for over the past few thousand millennia. People have died in pursuit of them and they have never remained in one place for very long so the notion that the Sorcerer's Stone has been on Midgard for at least a few hundred years with very few people knowing about it is….nothing short of astonishing."

"And that isn't even speaking of the true powers of the stones," Thor continued, picking up where his brother left off. "The Sorcerer's Stone has more….specific capabilities. Magic and sorcery are things that have been around far longer than mortal men. Many wars were fought with sorcery among the different planets of both the universe and the Nine Realms before the cosmic deities stepped in with the creation of this stone and used it to forcibly remove all the magic belonging to those who had fought on both sides of the war as the bloodshed was terrible."

"If used in the right manner, this stone has the ability to strip away the magic of every sorcerer in the known universe or unleash the magical equivalent of hell upon the entire galaxy," Loki finished. "It has the capability to remove the powers of myself and my brother and turn Asgard into another Midgard devoid of magic and vulnerable to the elements. In essence it has the capability to throw the entire galaxy into a magical dark age."

Luna and Hermione exchanged glances as the full weight of just what an Infinity Stone was settled onto them.

"If the wrong person had gotten their hands on the stone, there is no telling what they would have done with it. We may have been rendered powerless against them just as you were nearly powerless against your manic professor in those chambers."

"And another thing," Thor went on. "Who in Odin's name was that?"

"Do you want to go first or shall I?" Hermione asked the girl who was now her cousin and Luna nodded at her to go ahead.

"That was our former professor of Defence against the Dark Arts, Quirinius Quirrell."

"What a wonderful name," Loki muttered sarcastically and Luna smirked.

"Before you showed up daddy we learned that he was a servant of the Dark Lord Voldemort who had been keeping the spirit of the Dark Lord hidden in the Forbidden Forest until he would take possession of him so he could find the stone and give him a new body."

Thor and Loki exchanged a grim look. "And this is the same dark lord that went after your friend Harry when he was a child and destroyed his parents in the process correct?"

Luna twisted her hands in her lap uncomfortably and Hermione burned a hole in the floor with her eyes. "Yes."

"How in Odin's name did he even manage to get into the school?" Thor demanded.

"We're not sure," Hermione said. "Once we discovered Quirrell was up to no good a few months ago, we told the teachers and he was fired. We haven't seen him since until today. Neville came running down to the lake and told us what had happened. Professor Dumbledore and my head of house Professor Snape were at an international conference and because it's Easter, most of the students have gone home for the holidays along with a few teachers. I suppose he felt now was as good a time as any to try and strike and get the stone."

"The Sorcerer's Stone would indeed have given this dark lord a new body," Loki said gravely. "But it would have made him more powerful than I think even he thought possible."

"Hermione your mother told me what happened the night your friend came to stay with your Aunt Petunia and Uncle Regulus and this Dark Lord, this Tom Riddle being the one who killed his parents. If what she told me is true than this man was incredibly dangerous for six eleven year olds to attempt to take on by themselves. You putting yourself at risk like that was incredibly foolish."

Hermione stared at the floor. "I know."

She felt Luna squeeze her hand. "We all were, Hermione didn't want any of us to come but we insisted."

Hermione felt a surge of affection for her cousin and gripped her hand a little more tightly.

Thor and Loki exchanged glances and the latter heaved a sigh. "Very well, we'll have discuss the rest of this at some later date. Now what I want to know is how on earth your school head master managed to get his hands on this to begin with. It has been centuries since the last Infinity Stone has been found."

"Well that we don't know," Hermione put in. "All we know is that Quirrel was serving a larger purpose and when some of our friends informed on him to the headmaster about his nefarious intention, he was dismissed immediately. No one has seen him since and since it is Easter weekend and there aren't as many students or teachers around, he must have thought that the school was an easy target."

"And your headmaster didn't realize that one of his teachers was possessed by a spirit?" Thor asked folding his arms across his chest.

"He wasn't possessed when he was teaching us," Luna continued. "He told us that he had secured lower life forms in the Forbidden forest for his master to feed on and then when he felt he could secure the stone he would allow the spirit to possess him and bring him into the school. But I believe we've told you this already."

"You have," Loki said calmly. "I just want to make certain of the details. Now as to the matter of what to do with this stone now that we have it."

He turned the white sorcerer's stone over and over in his hands, examining its milky white color with the veins of color shot through it and passed it off to his brother so he could have a final look.

"We must take it back to Asgard," Thor said finally in a quiet voice as he peered at the stone. It is too dangerous to be left on Midgard and there are many who will continue to try and use it for their own ill-gotten gains."

"There are many who would use it on Asgard as well brother," Loki warned him and Thor smirked at the other god.

"Not if they didn't know it was there."

Loki raised an eyebrow. "You would try and conceal the stone from the All Father? It would be no easy feat. He senses many things."

"Not if we were to combine both of our power into a spell of concealment. If we bind our will to it, even he will not be able to sense its presence."

Loki looked thoughtful. "It is worth a try I suppose. And at any rate, it cannot be left here as it seems there are many who are aware of its presence and would seek to use it, harming innocents in the process."

He gave Hermione a meaningful look and she fought not to wince. She was pretty sure she was never going to hear the end of this.

She was dreading when Mum got here.

Natasha rarely grew angry with her as Hermione was generally an obedient child. But when it came to her safety, there was nothing that made the red head crazier. They may have lived and worked an ocean apart, but Hermione knew that thanks to magic, her mother would be able to reach her in a moment's notice if necessary.

As she was surely on her way to do.

_I am not looking forward to having this conversation._

Inside though her mind was still reeling as she sat beside Luna. She had a cousin…..godly family on this earth and they had been friends for an entire year and she hadn't a clue who Luna really was.

A part of her was a little upset that her father had chosen not to tell her but then her consolation was that Luna had been just as clueless as she was as Loki hadn't chosen to tell her of Hermione either.

She wondered why for a moment and then decided that it didn't matter because they knew now and that was what was important.

_Now hopefully mum doesn't kill me so that I can spend some time getting to know my cousin better._

"How long are you going to stay daddy, Uncle Thor?" Luna asked looking eager. Hermione couldn't deny that she was hoping her father would stay for a while as well. She had never met her Uncle Loki before this and now that she had met some more of her extended family, she wasn't looking forward to having to say goodbye right away.

Loki sighed before he put the Infinity Stone back in his pocket. "I don't expect we'll be able to stay for very long little moon. This wasn't exactly a planned trip."

Both girls winced again and exchanged glances.

Hermione meanwhile was looking around the hospital wing at all of the people who were standing about frozen. All of her friends who had gone down the hole with them, were now lying on the beds frozen where their respective fathers had unceremoniously deposited them. A frozen Madam Pomphrey was tending to a frozen Professor McGonagall who was sitting on the bed and looked as if she had been about to launch into a tirade before she had been frozen.

Neville and Dudley were in there as well and standing by her bed with their hands behind their back when they had been frozen.

It was as if the entire castle had been turned into mannequins in a department story window and were staring motionlessly around the room with their eyes glassy.

It was a little eerie.

"I'm going to wait for your mother to get here as no doubt this will require a lengthy explanation before we can allow the inhabitants of the castle to resume their former activities," Thor said somewhat grimly and Hermione barely stopped herself from wincing.

_I'm going to be grounded for the whole summer._

All of a sudden the pendent around her father's neck began to blink and Thor immediately picked it up, got to his feet and moved away from the bed to the window where he began to murmur something and Hermione couldn't make it out.

The conversation lasted no longer than thirty seconds before he came back and sat down on the bed before fixing her with a look.

"Your mother just reached the school, she should be up in a few minutes."

This time Hermione did grimace and tried not to sink into the bed so her mother wouldn't see her when she came up in a few minutes.

_I hope I make it out of this alive._

Ω

By the time Natasha made it to Scotland, her thoughts were whirling a mile a minute with a million different topics.

As soon as Rhodes and Stark had dispatched with Vanko's robots and Fury had taken Hammer into custody for questioning, he told Natasha that if there was somewhere she needed to be than she was free to go. Clint would handle the questioning.

As much as she wanted to curse herself for being easy to read in that moment, Natasha couldn't exactly blame herself given that her daughter had put herself in danger and it was serious enough that her father had to be called.

And what was this about Infinity Stones?

As far as she was concerned, international portkeys were a blessing from the gods.

She had had to stop herself from calling her husband again within minutes after she had spoken to Hermione to see if her father had gotten there.

While she had taken in the information that she was being given by Pepper and Fury she would have to read it back in the file that was now gripped under her arm.

Yes, she had taken a classified file through an international portkey with her to Scotland to a magical school.

Sue her….her daughter was in trouble.

When Natasha had seen the school for the first time as she was standing down by the black lake, she had to admit she was a little impressed. This would have been the school her parents would have sent her to had they lived and it looked like something straight out of the middle ages. Though she was certain from what Hermione told her that this castle had been around since the eleventh or twelfth century.

_I would have loved to have gone to school here, _she thought as she stared up at the many towers and turrets.

But she only contemplated this for a moment before she took the gem in her hand again and used it to call her husband once more.

Once she had seen his face and he had told her that Hermione and her friends were safe, her fear had turned to relief before it had turned to rage about how reckless her daughter had been.

And she didn't even know the full story yet.

When Thor told her that they were in the hospital wing which was in the south side of the school, Natasha hurried into the school, only pausing to notice that someone had cast a very complicated spell over the inhabitants of the castle causing everyone to freeze in place like they were enormous ice sculptures.

She could tell it was her husband's magic in order for no one to see him. She had a feeling if he were sitting in the hospital wing with their daughter, there would be people talking about it and as much as he would be concerned for Hermione he wouldn't want to risk his presence being known.

Finding the hospital wing wasn't that difficult as there was an entire floor dedicated for medical issues.

The moment Natasha walked into the corridor and saw the large door leading into the room itself, she entered and was surprised to see that the room was filled with people who as she might have expected were frozen.

She recognized her godsons Harry and Dudley right away. Harry was lying on one of the beds currently frozen and Dudley was standing over a bed across the room with his hands folded behind his back with another brown haired boy looking down at an older woman who was lying on the bed.

_She must be one of the teachers, _Natasha thought absently.

Hermione's other friends, Ron, Susan and Draco were also frozen as well and lying on beds near them.

An elderly woman in a white matronly dress seemed to be in the process of running out of an office at the back of the room with her hands filled with medical supplies and the entire place reminded Natasha of a hospital wing straight out of world war two. There were metal framed beds all in two long rows with curtains around each one and a long pathway right up the middle for the doctors and nurses to walk in.

Her attention was then immediately snagged by the four figures who were currently moving and sitting on two of the beds in the far corner.

One of them was a small blonde with almost white golden hair and the other girl sitting next to her was a familiar strawberry blonde.

Natasha caught the form of her husband sitting opposite her along with a tall dark haired man, but she barely paid any attention.

In that moment all the misinformation and unknowns and panic caught up with her and all of it came pulsing out of her in seven words.

"_What…_the hell is going on here?"

Thor glanced up and immediately got to his feet. She felt relieved upon seeing him but when Hermione turned around and saw her and grimaced like she had stepped on a TAC, her motionlessness faded away.

She strode forward and dropped to one knee beside the bed, reached out and pulled Hermione into her arms.

Her eleven year old stiffened for a moment before melting into her and wrapping her arms around her neck.

"Are you alright?" she asked quietly and her daughter just nodded not saying anything. She just wrapped her arms tightly about her mother like she had done when she was a little girl and held on.

Natasha closed her eyes and pulled her little girl closer. Part of the emotion she was feeling had to do with the fact that she was relieved that her daughter was safe and the other part of it was that she had missed her.

She saw the little girl with the white blonde hair exchange glances with the dark haired man and wondered if this was Luna, Hermione's best friend.

Upon catching sight of the dark haired man as well, Natasha had a feeling that this was without a doubt her husband's brother Loki.

_So this is my elusive brother in law, _she thought to herself as she released her little girl and looked her over for injuries.

"I'm fine," Hermione said quietly when she saw her mother's perusal. "Nothing but a few scratches and bruises."

Natasha nodded and let Hermione sit back down on the bed. "Good, now will someone kindly explain to me what the hell is going on here?"

"Gets right to the point doesn't she brother?" the dark haired man asked with a smirk.

Thor chuckled and ran a hand through his long blonde hair. "She does at that."

Natasha looked the dark haired god over. "You must be Loki. I was wondering when I was going to meet my trickster brother in law."

Loki smirked. "Told her all about me have you brother?"

"Aye, so she could know what to avoid when she met you."

Natasha looked back and forth between the brothers and saw that while there were no physical similarities between them, they did seem very close. Their back and forth banter was characteristic of siblings who had spent a lot of time with each other growing up.

She thought of Nina and felt a pang.

"Now back to the matter of why the hell I get a call from my daughter saying she needs me to contact you," Natasha said turning on her husband. "What on earth is going on here?"

Thor sighed. "You had better sit down Natasha. This is going to take a lot of explaining."

And it did.

In fact it took about an hour to get the entire story straight on just what Infinity Stones were, why one was hiding several hundred yards below the school and just what the purpose of this particular Infinity Stone was. Natasha felt herself seething with rage when she learned that a self-professed dark lord who was actually a magic maniac had somehow managed to gain access to the school.

Hermione had to jump in at that point and explain to her mother that this dark lord was the same one who had come after Harry when he was a baby. Her former teacher Quirinius Quirrel had been a follower of his and had been skulking about the school looking for the stone in order to return his master to his body.

In the meantime while he had been doing that, the former dark lord had been hiding out in the Forbidden Forest feeding off the life forms of lesser animals and waiting for the time when his servant would be able to locate the stone. He would then wait for the headmaster to leave and choose an appropriate time to gain entry into Hogwarts with the soul of the Dark Lord clinging to his own body.

It turned out that time was Easter weekend as most of the students had gone home for the holiday as well as many of the teachers barring a select few. Professors Dumbledore and Snape had been away at a conference and thus weren't even in Scotland at the time.

By the time Natasha got most of it straight, her hands were fists and shaking with rage. Her expression must have been terrifying as well for it caused Thor to reach out and take her hand, threading his fingers through hers in an attempt to calm her down.

It only partially worked and Natasha gave her husband a grim smile before Luna took up the tale, explaining what happened next.

"We were down by the Black Lake doing some early studying because exams are coming up," the small blonde said in her dreamy voice. "Neville had gone inside to Gryffindor Tower because he had forgotten one of his books and about fifteen minutes later, he came running back down to the lake, saying that Quirrel had returned and he and Professor McGonagall had fought but that he had knocked her unconscious."

"When we reached the third floor corridor, we found her lying on the ground," Hermione continued. "I knew right away that Quirrel had gone after the stone because it was right outside of the door which led into the room where the Cerberus was chained. And I knew if he got his hands on the stone there was no telling what he might be able to do with it. So I knew we had to go after him, or at least try and distract him long enough until the teachers got there and were able to help us. That's what Nev and Dudley were going to do. They volunteered to stay behind and find Professor Sprout and Flitwick and then get Professor McGonagall to Madam Pomphrey in the hospital wing. The rest of us agreed to go after Quirrel. And the rest you know."

Natasha paused, trying to gather her wits about her. She didn't normally become angry and when she did, it was along the lines of a cold front moving in.

She inhaled several times and found that Hermione was looking at her fearfully. The look on her face must have been frightening so she forced herself to calm down.

"And what pray tell was this doing in the school in the first place if it is this incredibly dangerous?"  
Surprisingly Loki interrupted then. "Technically, it wasn't in the school. The tunnel that the children slid down in order to reach the pit over the Inferi was underneath the school entirely and the passage they walked through in order to get to the maze led beneath the ground out into the Forbidden Forest. So technically the stone wasn't in the school at all. And given the amount of protections the headmaster had placed around it, it would have been impossible for anyone other than…..several rather resourceful individuals who had gifts that would not have been expected in order to get past it. It was his intention that no one should go down there…..and our little troublemakers decided to flout the rule."

"It wasn't like we had a choice!" Luna and Hermione burst out at the same time before flashing each other wry smiles. "We didn't know what else to do, the teacher who had tried to help was unconscious and the headmaster wasn't in the school. I knew we were better equipped to handle what we might find down there than any of the other students in the school."

Thor sighed and suddenly looked a lot older than he had a moment earlier causing Natasha to look at him carefully.

"And that is where everything went wrong little spark," He said firmly but gently. "That attitude is the height of hubris. Thinking that you can do something better than anyone else especially when you think you have no choice is how nearly tragic accidents like this start. I have over a millennia worth of experience in making mistakes that could have nearly ended the cosmos as has your uncle."

Loki coughed. "Speak for yourself."

Thor ignored his trickster brother at the moment. "But they were resolved because someone came alongside us and showed us the error of our ways. Doing what you did, despite your intentions in wanting to prevent a mad man from getting his hands on of the cosmos's most powerful known artifact was incredibly dangerous. All of you could have been killed and then there's no telling what your mother and I would have done."

Natasha was staring hard at Hermione and the strawberry blonde had never seen such a disappointed look in her mother's eyes as she was seeing right now and it made her want to squirm in discomfort.

_This actually might be worse than being in trouble._

Loki sighed and pulled the Sorcerer's Stone from the pocket of his tunic and held it up for them all to see.

"That it then?" Natasha asked in a hushed voice at the large white stone. "That's the Infinity Stone?"

"It is," her brother in law replied grimly. "A thing that has been lost to time and space for centuries has turned up on Midgard in the hands of a mortal wizard."

"And now we must take it back to Asgard," Thor said heavily. "It's too dangerous to be left here and no telling what this mad man will do to get his hands on it again."

"He escaped?" Natasha demanded, her tone going icy cold. She turned to her daughter and now her niece. "I thought you said he was dead."

Luna squirmed. "No Professor Quirrel is dead. The spirit of Lord Voldemort that was possessing him escaped before Daddy and Uncle Thor could stop him."

Natasha loosed several choice curses in Russian that had Hermione grimacing and Loki smirking. "So you have no idea where he might be now?"

"Once I discover where spirits go to spend time with other spirits I'll be sure to let you know Mum," Hermione muttered sarcastically.

She instantly regretted it when Natasha's expression turned thunderous. "Do not take that tone with me Hermione Antonina Romanov Granger. You flouted school rules, nearly got yourself and your friends killed and had to bring your father and your uncle down here to clean up your mess. As far as I'm concerned, the Geneva convention will have to be called when I'm through with you."

Hermione winced. A part of hew knew her mother didn't mean it, but she had also never been this angry before and there was no telling what she might do.

Even Luna had the good sense to look a little nervous.

Loki meanwhile was just smirking at his sister in law whom he had been hoping to meet for a long time as if he had been enjoying this.

Thor, sensing the tension rising in the room chose that moment to break in. "In the meantime, the two of us should be getting back to Asgard before our absence is discovered. We will deal with the stone from then on."

Loki placed his hand on the Infinity Stone and held it there for a moment before slowly drawing it away.

Hermione and Luna watched in fascination as the air above his empty hand began to shimmer and then suddenly an identical white stone appeared in it.

He noticed them staring and gave them a smirk. "It's a very complicated illusion. This is to fool your headmaster into thinking that the stone is still in his possession. No doubt if he discovers it missing he will assume that it has been taken by your dark lord. And that cannot end well."

He held out the stone to the cousins. "Before we depart, I will place this illusion back in the chamber below the school. When your headmaster sees it, he will know that the self-professed dark lord failed."

Hermione breathed a sigh of relief that they would have a good cover story but she could tell from the look on her parents faces that her punishment was going to be a doozy.

Ω

After replacing the stone, Thor and Loki bid farewell to their daughters. Thor gave Natasha a quick kiss on the cheek, promising to speak with her again soon and then hugged

Hermione tightly, glad without words that she was alright.

Hermione gave her Uncle Loki a hug goodbye and made him promise that he would come back again soon to visit her which he did after affectionately ruffling her hair.

Luna gave her Uncle Thor a hug goodbye as well and told him to be careful with the stone as the Nargles might be attracted to it and the ones on Asgard were surely more dangerous than the ones here on earth.

Right before they disappeared, Loki muttered the words to a spell that Hermione didn't quite catch and suddenly everyone was reanimated.

When she looked back, her uncle and her father were going, leaving her and Luna standing next to her mum beside the bed.

After that it was just carefully placed damage control.

Of course all of their friends wanted to know what had happened and why they were in the hospital wing instead of in the chamber below the school so that took a good deal of explaining. And then they had to tell the entire story sans Thor and Loki arriving to Pomphrey and McGonagall who looked more livid by the second.

Then of course they had to introduce Natasha to the two teachers who appeared just as terse as they were although the tall form of the red head in her SHIELD dark blue leather with the guns strapped to her thighs did cut a striking figure.

Harry and Dudley were of course thrilled that Aunt Tasha was there but very confused as to how they had all managed to get back to the hospital wing in the first place.

All Harry had remembered was Hermione and Luna nearing the Infinity Stone before Quirrel had attacked for some odd reason. Someone had screamed and there was a bright of flash of light and the next thing he knew they were all back in the hospital wing.

Hermione only had a few seconds to convey to him that her father had come and gone before the door to the hospital wing was flung open and an irate Professor Dumbledore strode in with Snape on his heels who similarly livid.

"What is the meaning of this?" he roared and all heads swivelled to him like they were bobble heads.

Hermione thought that no one could be more intimidating than her father when he was angry, but Professor Dumbledore came surprisingly close.

This of course required them to have to repeat their story to the headmaster which was far more intimidating than telling it to the teachers. Dumbledore was a scary good listener and Hermione had a feeling he would be reviewing this story in the contents of his pensieve later.

Professor Snape had stopped next to him and simply stood there like a large menacing bat prepared to swoop down on its prey.

Every so often, his eyes flickered towards Natasha who was standing in the corner of the room.

Hermione could have sworn that he muttered the name Lily upon seeing her and she suddenly realized that her own mum with her scarlet curls and emerald eyes must have looked a lot like Harry's mother Lily whom Professor Snape had been in love with before her death at the hands of Voldemort.

She imagined that it must have been a shock for him seeing a woman who was so like her in the room, but he made no move to approach her, preferring to simply watch her quietly.

In the meantime while the eleven year olds were telling their story to an irate headmaster, Natasha was on her cellular device speaking quickly in short sharp tones to Petunia on the other end. She appeared to be trying to calm the other woman down because it seemed that she wasn't handling the near death experience well.

The baby was due in a month and Petunia was a little delicate right now. Regulus would no doubt be furious when he learned what his two adoptive sons had done and might even be on the way to the school right now.

Hermione could see that Dudley's face was particularly green and that Harry's had gone white. Harry would probably be in more trouble and Dudley though as he had been the one to volunteer to go down into that hole along with her.

Dudley and Nev had been the only ones it seemed to actually go with their gut when they volunteered to stay behind and get the teachers.

Finally, after another hour of explanations and apologies, Professor Dumbledore went down to check on the stone himself along with the body of Quirinius Quirrel and dispose of it as well.

When he came back up, he seemed more relaxed and asked to speak with Natasha having been introduced to him as Hermione's mother.

She agreed tersely and the two stepped outside of the hospital wing while Professors Snape and McGonagall started in on the students.

"I imagine you have a lot to say Mrs. Granger," he said. There was no grandfatherly twinkle in his eye now and he appeared just as irate as Natasha had been upon discovering what the children had done.

"It's Romanov actually," she said calmly. "I go by my maiden name and none that hasn't already been said. After hearing a description of the traps that were placed down there

I can only assume that you went to a great deal of effort to hide the stone from those who would use it for ill and left instructions that no one was to go down there under any circumstances. Is that correct?"

"Yes ma'am."

"And seeing as how my daughter and her friends ignored those rules even though it was for the best of intentions I assume you have a punishment deemed appropriate for them yes?"

"That part I had not as yet thought of," the headmaster went on. "My primary concern was seeing to the wellbeing of the children and the safety of the stone."

"I'd like to say you run a tight ship headmaster but that wouldn't be entirely true," Natasha said with a marginal amount of acid in her tone although she wasn't really sure if she was upset with him or her daughter for doing what she did.

"It seems we are in agreement Mrs. Romanov," Dumbledore said and his tone was just as tense. "This entire experience has made me see how close we have come to a near disaster."

"You've got that right. But what I want to know is why you thought having the stone here would be a good idea."

He sighed and suddenly began to look his age. "You must understand Miss Romanov, that an Infinity Stone is not something that has been invented by men. But its power is so great that many would use it for nefarious purposes. I discovered through careful research that magical beings can hold onto the stone for a short period of time without it burning them to ash. This is no doubt what our former professor Quirrel was intending to do when he decided to give his master a new body. From there, there was no telling what the reincarnated Voldemort would do. I don't know the effect that an Infinity Stone would have had on a spirit like him but I do know that the results would have been very…..sinister."

_You think?_

"And what sort of steps are being taken to catching this mad man Headmaster?" Natasha asked, getting straight to the point. "I work for the most part oversees for an agency in America that handles international crime all over the world. I get sent to some of the dangerous places on the planet and I have not as of yet come across a magical maniac in the form of a spirit hell bent on bringing the world to heel. And this mad man was possessing some poor bastard of a teacher no more than fifteen from my daughter and godsons. So I will ask again. How do you intend on catching him?"

It appeared that Dumbledore knew then he was dealing with someone who wouldn't take just any sort of answer.

The truth was he had been baffled himself when he realizing that Quirrel had been possessed after the students had told him the story. Although it made sense that the spirit of Lord Voldemort would have hidden away in the Forbidden Forest as he wouldn't have been able to sense him there.

The chamber he had built was one that was so deadly, he had a feeling that no one would be able to get past it. But just in case he had employed the use of a Cerberus to nip it in the bud.

And now not only had his now dead defence professor been able to do so with the help of his spirit master, but also several very talented eleven year olds who had managed to get past a pile of Inferi and through a maze of rock monsters.

When he had gone down to make sure that stone was still in place he had been astonished to see that the monsters he had employed in its protection had either been fried to a crisp or else frozen into ice cubes.

He had never seen the likes of it before.

He had wanted to question the first years on the nature of the spells they had used but he also knew that in relation to the stone, it was not as important.

The truth was, Dumbledore hadn't even wanted to hide the stone anywhere near the school in the first place.

He and his good friend Nicholas Flamel had discovered it in the far reaches of northern Europe years ago and had spent decades guarding it once they discovered what it was.

It had been fine in Flamel's care since the departure of the late lord Voldemort, but as of the summer before, Flamel had been attacked and left for dead because of it.

Dumbledore had discovered him just in time and managed to get him to the hospital which had saved his life but Flamel had begged Dumbledore to take control of the Stone.

And he had agreed.

Now he was regretting it.

It was why he had built the chamber hundreds of yards in the ground below the school with the strongest magical protections he could think of because he didn't want anyone going near it.

The chamber that housed the stone was in fact beneath the Forbidden Forest and the only way in was through the third floor corridor in the school. He had been certain that no one had known about its whereabouts or even his existence but now it seemed he was wrong.

"Well headmaster?" Natasha asked in the cool tones of a SHIELD agent but enough to show that she meant business. "What steps have you taken?"

Dumbledore sighed again. "I have reached out to the head of the DMLE Amelia Bones. She had been aware of the situation since last summer and she has set aside a team of specially trained wizards for rooting out and dealing with this threat, as well as Kingsley Shacklebolt, her second in command. There is also the head of the Unspeakables that I have spoken to as well who are looking into ways for apprehending him. But seeing as how he is a spirit at the moment, he is proving rather elusive."

"Good," Natasha said. She knew Amelia would do a decent job with this as she had done the same thing for Sirius's trial several years ago. "Have you spoken with your Minister of Magic?"

Dumbledore looked at her with an incredulous expression on his face. "Miss Romanov if I were to even mention the name of the late lord Voldemort to Minister Fudge he would find a way to remove me from office here and prevent me from doing anything to aid in the apprehension and destruction of this madman. He is a fool that only cares about his ability to remain in office and he doesn't care how he does it. He would immediately deny that the dark lord is still living on the fringes of humanity and call for a complete crack down on anyone who was saying otherwise."

"So in essence he's a coward and a blithering idiot with all of the courage of an ostrich," Natasha said grimly.

"I couldn't have said it better myself," Dumbledore agreed no less coolly. "I don't like it any more than you do Miss Romanov, but in order for us to get anything done we must operate under a cover of secrecy until we have either proof that he has returned because the Minister will require it before he will believe it, or else the man himself bound and gagged at our feet."

Natasha was silent for a moment. She didn't like it, but at least no one was sitting on their hands and doing nothing.

"Is there some way to go about destroying this Infinity Stone so he cannot come after it again?" she asked.

Dumbledore sighed again, suddenly looking even older. "I have been looking into ways to end its existence but all of them take more power than I here possess and in order to do it, we would have to incorporate more people into this web to help destroy it. I am open to doing that but only with people that I trust absolutely. If word of what this stone could do got out, it would be ripped from my hands before any progress had been made. Fudge would no doubt insist on it being kept around to be studied but it would only act as a paper weight to keep him in power."

"Sounds like your Minister is a real nuisance," Natasha muttered and a tiny wintery smile crossed Dumbledore's face. "For once we are in agreement."

He paused and glanced down at the wand that was strapped to the inside of her arm. "How powerful are you magically Miss Romanov?"

Natasha raised an eyebrow at him. "Are you asking for my help in the disposal of the stone?"

"Would you be open to it?"

"If it keeps this madman away from my daughter and her friends….absolutely."

Dumbledore nodded. "Very well then. Allow me to speak with several of my colleagues first and we will proceed from there, but make no mistake. I want this thing gone as much as you do. The world isn't made for that much power to be kept in the size of a pearl. Empires have been destroyed for less."

Natasha gave a sharp nod and walked back to the hospital room. She wanted to check on her daughter one more time before heading back to Surrey to talk to Petunia and Regulus about what was going on.

No doubt they were going crazy by now and she had managed to convince them to wait until she got back to Privet Drive to do anything as she was at the school now and was handling the situation along with Hermione's father.

They had calmed down some when they heard that but no doubt Regulus would be ready to hit the roof by now.

It was going to be a long day.

Ω

Natasha finally made it back to Surrey, feeling more tired than usual.

Speaking with Hermione and her friends had taken another hour along with introductions to Ron, Draco, Neville and Susan who also turned out to be Amelia Bones' niece who had been living with her since her parents had died in the same war that Harry's had.

She had also pulled Hermione aside and gotten the story on Luna as well, that she was Loki's daughter and thus Hermione's cousin.

To say she wasn't surprised to hear that was a bit of an understatement as it meant she was an aunt as well…..at least through marriage.

Luna had been very pleased to meet her and begged her to not go too hard on Hermione. She wanted her to come and visit her in Ottery Catchpole this summer.

Natasha had said she would think about it and told Hermione in no uncertain menacing tones that she would be receiving her punishment at the end of the school year as there wasn't much she could do about it now.

That served to make her little girl look both relieved and nervous which was what Natasha was going for.

After that had been completed, she left their in school punishment to their heads of house, Professors McGonagall and Snape…..odd names.

Professor Snape had shown her out and she had felt the man's eyes on her the whole time. Natasha was used to men looking at her with admiration in their eyes, but Hermione's teacher wasn't looking at her like that. His gaze was almost….melancholy…..as if she reminded him of someone that he had known a long time ago.

She resolved to ask Hermione about _that _later.

From there she had been walked to the edge of the property and apparated off of it to go back to Surrey.

After that, she had spent another two hours explaining everything that had happened to Petunia and Regulus both of whom were madder than wet cats at what their two sons had done.

At the moment though, punishments had to be put aside as the kids weren't actually there.

Natasha told them all of what Dumbledore had told her and it seemed to pacify them some.

Natasha herself privately wanted to have a conversation with the man later for his acts in the war that had killed Harry's parents. But there hadn't been time earlier. When he called her about destroying the infinity stone then they would have a conversation.

She was just glad that her husband and brother in law had taken the real stone back to Asgard so destroying the one that Dumbledore thought was the real McCoy would be much easier.

The red head had just entered her kitchen and put a pot of tea on to boil when the clearing of a throat made her whirl around, raising her gun to the intruder in one fluid motion.

She relaxed when she saw it was just her husband back in regular clothes with the familiar smirk on his face.

"Remind me not to startle you again," he said and she unloaded the gun before setting it on the counter and striding over to him. "It's not as if this would have actually done anything to you."

"Perhaps not, but all the same it would be better not to give you any reasons to shoot me."

"Good, because after today, it _would _be all too easy for me to shoot someone."

His smile turned genuine before he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her tight against his chest.

Natasha relaxed into his embrace and sighed slightly. She had forgotten how much she missed him and how nice it was to have these quiet moments to themselves.

"Are you all right?" he asked softly and she didn't reply but sighed again.

"Ask me that tomorrow and I'm sure I'll answer in the affirmative."

He pressed a gentle kiss to her forehead which made her tense muscles relax even more. "I'm sorry that you were so worried. But you didn't actually have to come you know. I could have handled it."

Natasha pulled back slightly though still in his arms and looked up into his stormy blue eyes. "What was it that you told me a long time ago about me being capable of doing something on my own but that it should not be about that, that it should be simply about me not having to?"

To her amused surprise he looked a bit sheepish. "Point taken. So what happened after I left?"

She sighed and took his hand before leading him to the couch so they could sit down. This was no doubt going to be a long story. She had been telling and hearing a lot of them lately.

"It seems that Hermione's headmaster has been on top of this situation albeit subtly for quite a while. He's already employed the usage of several government officials to solve it but he fears that if he were to release the information about the potential return of this so called dark lord it would result in mass panic or else no one would believe them which at this moment is not something that can be afforded."

She explained what was going to happen with the Infinity Stone and saw her husband's smirk at their outsmarting of the mortal wizard.

Finally she told him about the reactions of Petunia and Regulus which caused him to laugh and at this point she had begun to pace while he sat on the couch in front of her.

"And now I have to think of a suitable punishment for Hermione," she said. "I can't believe she would do something so reckless and endanger herself like that. I understand that she didn't think she had a choice but the fact of the matter was that she did. And she chose to ignore that. I don't know what I'm going to do with – "

She was cut off suddenly when it seemed that Thor had had enough of her pacing. He reached out a hand and caught hold of her arm before tugging her towards him so she landed rather unceremoniously in his lap.

Natasha flinched in surprise and tried to get up, but his arms around her waist held her fast and after a moment, she relaxed. He was the only one she would ever allow to hold her like this because he was the only one that made her feel safe enough to do so.

His larger hands held her smaller ones gently and she couldn't help looking into his handsome face because she had a feeling that he meant every word of what he was about to say.

"I think you're forgetting how much she is like you," he said and she raised an eyebrow but waited for him to finish. "What does that have to do with this?"

He smiled at her but it wasn't a patronizing smile, but rather the kind of smile that came from knowing and loving someone for many years and knowing them very well as a result.

"My beautiful wife, what is it that you do on a daily basis?" he asked and she blinked, it not taking long to sink in.

"You can't possibly be comparing my job to what Hermione did today?"

"Forgive me but other than a large sum of money what is the difference?"

Natasha just stared at him. "The difference is that she willfully put herself and her friends in danger to go after a powerful object that might have killed her and stop a man more dangerous than she's ever known!"

His smile widened. "It sounds to me as if you just described every assignment that Fury has ever sent you on in a nutshell. What she did today is no different than what you do every day Natasha. Now I admit she was extremely foolish, and I have no doubt in my mind that you will think of an appropriate punishment for that, but can't you at least see the parallels?"

Natasha had fallen silent in disbelief. She and her husband often butted heads on how to raise their daughter but she had never encouraged Hermione to behave recklessly. And that was exactly what she had done today.

"Let's say for a moment that I could," she said finally. "You aren't asking me to let her off the hook for what happened today are you?"

"Of course not," he said. "All I'm asking is for you to understand her point of view as well. She did what she did out of the best of intentions and despite what happened or almost happened because of it, she didn't force her friends to come with her. They volunteered knowing it would be dangerous. Hermione can't be held accountable for _that _aspect at least."

Natasha gave a deep sigh. She hated it when Thor was right.

_I suppose that's what I get for marrying someone who's at least a thousand years older than I am. He's bound to win some arguments._

"Fine," she said. "I will try to consider that perspective. But make no mistake, I will be dolling out the appropriate punishment when she comes home."

She could practically hear the smile in the blonde's voice. "I would expect nothing less."

The red head nodded and turned her attention to other things then. "What did you and Loki do with the Infinity Stone when you got it back to Asgard?"

Thor's expression turned grim. "We had to land on Jotunheim for a moment so we could perform the spell that would conceal the stone but I think our presence might have been noticed."

"You weren't approached were you?" Natasha asked in concern.

Thor had told her all about the Jotuns and the many wars the Asgardians had fought with them in the past.

"No," her husband replied. "But I hope that the energy the stone was giving off didn't draw too much attention. "Because if it did, the Jotuns might trace it back to Asgard and that would mean a lot of trouble for me and my brother."

Natasha nodded. "So I suppose we'll just have to wait and watch for now."

"So it would seem."

She sighed and leaned back against him, allowing him to wrap his arms around her waist. She didn't get to spend that many moments with him without their daughter around so when an opportunity presented itself, she was going to take advantage of it.

"Loki's just as you described him," she said with a smirk after a long silence.

"A pain in my neck?" her husband asked sarcastically, causing her to laugh.

"No," she said. "Very loyal. And by the way, why did you never mention the little fact that he had fathered a child here as well? That seems to be rather important."

Thor's expression immediately turned grim and she almost regretted asking. "It was for our daughter's safety as much as it was yours."

Natasha frowned. "What does that mean?"

He sighed. "It means my beautiful wife that I have reasons for keeping silent and I will tell you about them when the need arises. I know you don't like being left in the dark but when it comes to your safety, there's nothing I wouldn't risk."

Slightly mollified, Natasha nodded before leaning back in his arms. "Alright. I trust you."

He smiled at her. "And your trust means more to me than words can express. I simply want to keep you safe."

"I know. And I want the same for you as well."

"I know you do."

They remained in their current embrace for a while longer, simply not saying anything and enjoying each other's company before Thor suddenly sighed and she did too…..knowing what the gesture meant.

"You have to go?" she asked.

He nodded looking regretful. "I hadn't meant to stay this long. I wanted to check on you after what happened today and I think I've over stayed my time."

She got to her feet, allowing him to do the same before he wrapped his arms around her waist once more.

His stormy blue eyes looked over her face with a softness she hadn't seen there in a while.

"Stay safe," she said softly.

"And you as well," he said in a low rumble.

Then he surprised her before leaning forward and brushing a gentle kiss across her lips. It wasn't usually something he did, but she accepted it all the same.

When he straightened up, she couldn't read the expression in his eyes. It was as if he were memorizing every inch of her face like he had never seen it before. "Tell Hermione I will see her soon."

"I will," she promised.

He nodded and then was suddenly gone in a flash of light.

Natasha watched the spot where he had been for a long moment before sighing and going into the kitchen to retrieve her gun so she could lock it and then go upstairs to bathe and go to bed.

Not for the first time did she wish that he could have stayed longer.

_I suppose this what I get for being married to a man who lives in another realm and is a god to boot. We've known each other almost twelve years and every time he leaves I wish more and more that he could be able to stay._

Natasha would soon learn later the danger of making wishes.

Ω

**Wow, sorry for the long wait guys. This chapter is just essentially dealing with the fall out of the incident in the previous chapter and how Thor and Natasha and Loki and Dumbledore dealt with it. Speaking of Dumbledore, I'm really tired of reading stories where's portrayed as a villain and as an evil man. I wanted to make him someone that wasn't all bad but not all good either and someone who can admit to that. I wanted to make him somewhat morally ambiguous because that's something we don't often see in this character. This Dumbledore is willing to do what is necessary in order to get his hands dirty and I think that's a different change of pace. This essentially caps off first year. Next chapter will be encompassing the summer and the beginning of second. Tell me what you think of first year guys because we are moving on at this point. Don't forget to review and happy reading everyone! **


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33

After the excitement surrounding Quirrel's death and the Sorcerer's Stone and the near theft of it by the dark lord, the rest of the year was rather tame for Hermione and her friends.

Slytherin won the House Cup along with the Quidditch cup that year which Ron grumbled about for weeks until Draco slapped him upside the head and told him if it bothered him so much than perhaps he should join the Gryffindor team and try and best them next year. At this, Ron got a gleam in his eye which could only mean that he was thinking carefully about what his friend had said.

Hermione passed her exams with flying colors as they were now the hardest things she had to solve since their adventure below the school.

Finally, the afternoon before they were set to get back on the Hogwarts express to return to London, the group of friends were lounging down beneath one of the trees near the

Black Lake and reminiscing about the term they had had.

"Is everyone all packed to go home tomorrow?" Susan asked looking around at the group and was rewarded with several nods and grunts of affirmation.

"After the year we've had I do believe I'm rather looking forward to leaving this place behind for a few months," Draco muttered.

"I'm just glad that it's all over and we survived," Neville said. "I can't imagine how my gran would have reacted if she learned I died in my first year of school."

"Lady Augusta Longbottom would no doubt have stormed Hogwarts and slow broiled the headmaster over a pit of coals," Susan said chuckling.

"I certainly hope not," Luna said shuddering. "Fire attracts Wrackspurts something awful. You really don't want them hanging around the school do you?"

"So what is everyone doing for summer holidays?" Susan asked quickly before they could all ponder Luna's odd statement.

"My family and I are going to see my brother Bill in Egypt," Ron said eagerly. "He's discovered some new pyramids that he says have some rather ancient curses on them from some long dead magical pharaoh!"

"Thrilling," Draco drawled looking bored. "My family and I will be going to the south of France. We go every year. The Malfoys own several estates throughout Europe and we try to visit each one as often as we can."

"Modesty certainly becomes you Malfoy," Harry muttered somewhat sarcastically. "What are you doing Susie? Nev?"

"I'll be working in my greenhouse," the brown haired Gryffindor said.

"Auntie Amelia did mention something about taking me to America," the Hufflepuff said thoughtfully. "She said there's a Muggle law enforcement agency in Washington that she wants to visit. Apparently she's been invited by the director as a way of improving Muggle and wizarding relations."

"What's it called?" Ron asked curiously.

"SHIELD."

Hermione at once began violently choking on her own breath, causing Dudley to have to reach over and slap her on the back.

"Are you alright Mione?" Luna asked her cousin in concern. "You didn't catch sight of the Blibbering Humdinger did you?"

"That's where Hermione's mum works!" Dudley burst out in surprise before Harry and Hermione glared at him, causing him to clam up.

Susan blinked in surprise. "Is it? I had wondered about that uniform she was wearing when we saw her last. And she had an American accent so I wondered where she might have worked. Now we know. Well this is exciting, perhaps Auntie and I will see her when we arrive in Washington."

"What exactly is it that you mum does Mione?" Neville asked and suddenly all the attention of her friends was focused on her.

"My mother works in international law enforcement," the strawberry blonde explained patiently. "Which means that she get sent all over the world to many different countries to apprehend the dangerous criminals that foreign countries don't have the manpower or technology to catch. It's an elite bureau and only the best of the best can join. The fact that she's a witch helps with that as well."

Draco frowned. "But if she's a witch, why has she been living in the Muggle world for so long as opposed to living in the magical one?"

Hermione sighed. "That's a long story, but the reader's digest version of it is that there was an accident when she was young and she lost my grandparents and aunt in a fire. I don't know all the details because she never talks about it and I don't ask. After the fire, she was adopted by a muggle man who worked in law enforcement in Russia and she followed him into the business and has been doing it ever since. So she's a pureblood witch but lives like a Muggle because that's the way she's been raised."

"Makes sense," Ron mused.

"It would be interesting to see her at SHIELD when we go this summer," Susan said eagerly. "I can't wait to see the facility."

Hermione had only seen glimpses of the place through the floo network when she had called her mum and she had never been to America herself so she felt a stab of envy that

Susan would get to go when she couldn't.

_You know the reason for that, _said a small voice in her head. _Mum wants to keep the fact that she has a kid out of the public eye. Do you remember the last time a man in power found out you existed?_

She grimaced remembering Stalin and his goons and how her father had nearly torn them apart when he had found them.

And speaking of her father…..Hermione hadn't spoken with him in a while either. Not since the Sorcerer's Stone incident.

_I hope he and Uncle Loki got back to Asgard alright, and that the Sorcerer's Stone is safely hidden. I can't imagine the ruckus that would be raised if Grandfather were to discover its whereabouts._

"Well it's pretty obvious that all of you are going to be having wonderful summer holidays," Harry grumbled. "All me Dud and Mione can expect is being grounded for the term of our natural lives."

"Speak for yourself," his cousin shot back. "I wasn't the one who went down into that hole along with the rest of you. Anything I get will be far lighter than anything you get."

"Thanks Dud," Hermione grumbled. "Thanks."

She had been trying her best not to think about the impending punishment her mother had all but italicized and underlined that was coming. For the moment she had been trying to do damage control on what had happened with her friend and the headmaster, pass all of her classes with flying colors and get to know her cousin better.

Luna had written to her mother Pandora and told her of the incident as well and suffice it to say that the other blonde had not been pleased.

Luna was now grounded for a portion of the summer as well, something that upset the small blonde as it meant she couldn't go looking for the Crumple Horned Snorkack, something she had been longing to so.

In the meantime however, Hermione could bet that almost all of her friends were going to be spending a certain amount of time on the hot seat.

Well, maybe not Draco.

Exams had gone well and had been a welcome change to all of the excitement over the last few weeks and the end of school feast had just concluded which meant that they would be getting in the boats to leave for the train station in a few hours to go back home.

As much as Hermione was eager to see her mum who had taken the day off to spend with her, she knew the extra time would have allowed Natasha to come up with a doozy of a punishment which she would no doubt feel the weight of for the first part of the summer.

Luna looked similarly nervous about what was waiting for her as well.

"We'll all stay in touch over the summer yeah?" Susan asked as she looked around at the group. "I don't want to be the first time I talked to you lot after this to be on the first day of second year."

"We'll be sure to write," Harry said nodding to Dudley and Hermione and Ron nodded eagerly.

"And Draco, I know that you don't really like writing letters, but for the love of god please don't let your house elf dictate them."

The blonde looked indignant. "I do not have Dobby write all my letters. Only the ones I'm too busy to write myself."

"And which ones are those pray tell?" Susan teased. "The ones that aren't about the weather?"

Draco's face reddened while the rest of his friends chuckled.

Hermione got to her feet, "Come on you lot. I think I see them loading up the boats right now. I want to have a look around the dorm once more to make sure I didn't forget anything, and then it's back to London."

Ω

A few hours later saw Hermione saying goodbye to her friends along with Harry and Dudley and hurrying through the train station with their trunks and animals to meet up with Uncle Regulus.

After that it was simply a matter of them apparating home.

Petunia, who had recently given birth hadn't come to meet them as bringing a baby along apparating wouldn't have been a good idea and Regulus didn't have a driver's license as yet.

So the boys were forced to wait and see their new sister until they got home.

Granted, just because they hadn't been at the school when the mess with the sorcerers stone happened didn't mean they hadn't heard about it and were ready to give the boys an earful.

And speaking of earfuls, Hermione was bracing herself to go home and receive one that night herself from her mother.

What she didn't expect the moment she walked in the door however was to see her father sitting in his Muggle clothes on the sofa waiting for her.

But that was what she found.

Hermione dropped her trunk with a crash in the hall as soon as she slammed the door shut behind her. "Dad!"

She hadn't seen him since the debacle with the stone and wasted no time in flying into his arms, incredibly happy to see him.

A chuckle rumbled in his chest as he pulled her close and she smiled, glad beyond words to see him again.

"What are you doing here?" she asked when she pulled back.

"Your mother will not be home until tomorrow so I thought that I would spend the night with you tonight. I didn't want you to spend your first night home from school alone."

Hermione smiled. "I'm glad. I didn't really want the first thing I heard when I got in the door from school was that I am grounded for the entire summer."

Thor smirked. "I don't think your mother will be that harsh little spark. She just worries for you a great deal is all and the thought that she could lose you is something that terrifies her. It terrifies me. We both know how powerful you are, but at the same time, it is what you choose to do with that power that matters. You are still only eleven years old and there will be people who try to take advantage of you. We want to prepare you not only for what might come but for how you respond to situations that might be over your head and to know when to let someone else handle something like this. Do you understand?"

She nodded. "I understand."

"Good. Now I feel it is time that I explain a few things to you that you didn't otherwise know."

Hermione blinked and felt her pulse quicken in excitement. Finally she would get to hear more about Asgard and her Uncle Loki and her cousin Luna and how they fit into the grander scheme of things.

"I'm going to start with why I decided to keep the knowledge that you had a cousin from you," her father said. "Your uncle and I are both forbidden from siring children as you know. It is some foolish law your grandfather erected long ago before you were ever born. Truthfully we did not know that you and Luna would be going to the same institution of education or that you would ever meet. So we did not see the need for you to know about each other as yet. Having two demigod children in the same country of the same world in the same realm had truthfully never happened before so your uncle and I were a little unsure of whether or not it would be a good idea to tell you. Once it became common knowledge that the two of you were friends through school however we did plan to tell you at the end of the year along with your mothers, but then you and her forced us to come to Midgard and reveal the truth."

Hermione grimaced. "Sorry about that dad. I truly did not think that Dumbledore would have so many traps set up down there."

"And that is why you must always use your brain before making decisions like that little spark that could put you in danger. If something were to ever happen to you or your mother, I would not hesitate to tear this whole world down and I know your uncle would do the same for Luna and her mother."

"I know."

"Good."

Hermione cocked her head to one side. "Are there any other family members that I should know about?"

Thor chuckled. "I have no other children if that is what you are concerned about. I am essentially married to your mother and I would never be unfaithful to that. She is the only woman on this earth I have ever been with. I don't count the centuries before that as I was a very different god then."

"Okay. Does Luna have any other siblings?"

Thor's face stilled for a moment and Hermione knew she had reached the jackpot. "She does doesn't she?"

"She does. She has four other siblings, but I believe there is only one that resides in this world along with the two of you. I truthfully do not know where the others are. The knowledge was hidden from Loki and I because your grandfather knew if he did learn where they were, he would stop at nothing to try and free them."  
Hermione frowned. Her grandfather seemed like a right bastard in that regard. "Why is it that grandfather is being so…so…"

"A bastard?" her father asked with a chuckle. "He can be. But the reason that your uncle and I are forbidden from having children is a very….dark story that I will not get into now."

"Does Mum know?"

"No your mother does not know and when the time is right, I will tell her. I do not want to frighten you by giving you information too early and the matter regarding our enforced…abstinence is somewhat alarming."

Now Hermione was really curious. But from the stone faced look her father was giving her as she sat on the couch with him that she was going to get no more information out of him.

They talked for a little longer regarding their odd family and Hermione was similarly pleased when she learned that her Uncle Loki was rather impressed with her.

"I'd like to get to know him better," she confessed to her father. "I'd like for this whole family to not have to be so secretive."

His gaze turned sad. "So do I little spark. So do I."

They talked for the rest of the evening as Thor regaled Hermione with tale after tale of some of the adventures he and Loki and Sif and the warriors three had gone on and all it did was make Hermione even more eager to go to Asgard one day and meet all of these wonderful people that her father had told her about.

She wished her grandfather wasn't so hard-headed about her father and uncle having children. As far as she was concerned, he was only cutting himself off from a wonderful opportunity it expand his family.

Hermione may have only been eleven years old but the one thing her mother and father had taught her besides her combat skills was to value family above all others because you did not know when it would be taken away. Her mother had lost all of her family in a terrible fire when she was a child and Hermione's own father was not able to be with them very often so she had really learned to appreciate just what mattered and how not to let her family go.

Sometime late in the night, the blonde told his daughter to go upstairs to bed as she looked exhausted and though Hermione wanted to protest she didn't do it too strongly.

"Do you promise to be here when I wake up?" she asked sleepily as she gave her father a hug goodnight.

"I promise."

The moment his daughter had disappeared up the stairs, Thor settled back onto the sofa with a sigh. Thoughts of the future had been plaguing his mind ever since he had looked at that thrice damned prophecy and seen why it was that his father was so terrified of the idea of he and Loki having children.

Thor was glad he only had one. Trying to imagine the pain of having Hermione ripped him his arms like Fenris or Hela had been from Loki made him want upend the entire house in rage.

His father truly was a fool and as soon as the Odin sleep came upon him, both brothers intended to repeal the foolish law of forbidden children and bring their own back to Asgard.

But there was also the concept of mortality that was weighing heavily on his mind as well. The fact that he would not be able to find out whether or not Hermione was immortal until her eighteenth birthday was driving him insane.

He had a plan for her mother as soon as the Odin sleep came upon his father but at the same time, that was going to take a while. And Natasha had to be up for it. He knew she would consider the idea strongly of becoming an immortal but at the same time it wasn't just Hermione that she would think about in this decision. He knew she would struggle with the idea of saying goodbye to Petunia and Regulus as well as her godsons as they were her family too.

There was also the idea of the golden apples of Asgard if the tests of Hela did not work out. If it was discovered that Hermione or her mother were mortal, there was always the option of stealing one and giving it to them to provide an extra thousand years to their life.

But that was an option he didn't intend to use until it was absolutely necessary.

And he hoped it would never have to come to that.

Thor knew for a fact as well that Loki was worried about whether Luna and her mother Pandora were mortal as well. Pandora would die just as Natasha would if he didn't do something that Thor knew his brother well enough to know that that was not something Loki would abide by at all.

And thus they had their hands full.

The idea of Odin preventing the birth of half mortal half asgardian children was something that worried and angered Thor greatly. Ragnarok had not happened in thousands of years and though it had been a continuous cycle in his father's time it was not something that had happened in centuries.

He was tired of his father's constant paranoia and insane delusions. Perhaps it was time for his brother to begin planning something.

And then there was the matter of the sorcerer's stone.

Keeping that much power in Asgard was a dangerous thing and he knew he and his brother had broken more than a few ancient laws when they brought such a thing of power into their realm. He had a feeling that if someone were to find out what they had done, there would be massive repercussions.

But for the moment, no one had found out and for that he was relieved. It had taken a great deal of power and magic to be able to conceal the stone from his father, his mother and his friends, but Thor and Loki had done it.

_Odin, when did things became so thrice damned complicated?!_

The fact that when they were together, Hermione and Luna were able to hold on to the stone prompted Thor to think that perhaps his daughter and her cousin had more of an opportunity to be immortal than they realized.

Very few mortals were able to hold onto an infinity stone for as long as they had and the fact that they had done it with godly blood in their veins only served to make Thor wonder whether or not Hermione would need the tests of Hela or a golden apple at all.

But something needed to be done about this whole situation.

And soon.

He was so lost in thought that he didn't even hear the door open from the front, nor the sound of footsteps down the hall and a bag being dropped in the kitchen.

He didn't realize that he wasn't alone until he felt a pair of arms wrap about his waist gently and a familiar voice say: "It's not normally that I can sneak up on you. You must have been deep in thought."

Thor smirked and turned around to find his beautiful wife standing there. She looked tired but had a smile on her face that lit up her entire grim countenance. He had once told her that she should smile more often than she did.

She had replied by saying she was trying to, but that before he and Hermione and her new friends had come along, there hadn't been very much to smile about in this life.

The fact that she seemed to be a much happier person now that they were together and had Hermione was something that brought him great joy.

"Hermione's asleep," he told her. "She was exhausted from the trip home and I decided I would stay with her until you returned. I did not know that you would be back tonight however."

Natasha shrugged. "My assignment regarding Stark is finally complete and so I didn't feel the need to stay another night in America before coming back to England to see Hermione."

"All issues with Stark have been resolved then?"

"As much as they can be. It was Fury's intention to look into whether or not Stark would be a good fit for this new initiative he is working on. I don't even know what that means at this point, but he is being the most secretive he has ever been since I have started working for him.

"Is that not a little ironic coming from you?" Thor asked raising an eyebrow. "Being married to a god and having a child with him and all."

Natasha slapped his shoulder. "We weren't talking about me, we were talking about my boss."

Thor chuckled. "You're right. I'm sorry."

"Anyway. I don't have very long to stay home because a particular top secret package is being sent from the north Atlantic sea and Fury wants me back in a few days for the unveiling of it."

She looked up at him. "How long do you think you will be able to stay?"  
"Day or two perhaps," he said. "Odin is away at the moment negotiating peace treaties with the Jotuns and that is something that I am not needed for. He will not notice my absence."

Natasha smiled. "Good, that means I get you all to myself for a few days. And it also means that we need to find some time to spend with Hermione. We don't spend enough time with her at it is. I know this situation is not ideal as it is, so when we can all be together, I don't want to waste it."

Thor frowned at her. Natasha usually wasn't this nostalgic. "Did something happen?"

She frowned up at him. "No. I think it's just the older I become, the more I begin to appreciate what really matters. And that's you and Hermione."

Thor chuckled before leaning down and kissing her softly. "If there is one thing you are not, it is old. You are still as beautiful as the day I met you if not more so."

Natasha chuckled. "You know flattery doesn't really work on me."

He raised an eyebrow. "Flattery my beautiful wife. You've known me long enough to know that I never tell anything but the truth."

She smirked. "Now that is something that is true."

For the moment, Thor decided to forget about all of the prophecies and problems surrounding his life with Natasha and Hermione and simply decided to focus on the more important things.

And for the first time in his immortal life…he truly began to understand the importance of time.

Ω

The next two days were some of the worst and best of Hermione's life.

She got so rarely to see her parents together so the time they had to spend together was special and precious to her.

But Natasha also made good on her threat of punishment with a rather unique and somewhat painful experience.

There was a sort of simulator at SHIELD that they used for all of the new trainees which put the recruits in situations where they would have to make extreme choices. For example, the simulator put them in hostage type situations where they would have to make the hard calls in order to get the object of their assignment and get out.

It was a tough thing mentally and Natasha explained to Hermione that she wanted her to understand that she was not ready to make tough calls like that. Not only was it a mentally challenging thing, it was also emotionally challenging.

She could imagine a team similar to the ones the simulation presented her with only this time it was full of her friends. And understanding that there were times when agents would have to be left behind for the good of assignment was a hard thing for Hermione to swallow.

What would it be like if she was forced to leave behind Harry, or Ron, or Dudley or Draco or Susan or Neville or her own cousin Luna?

It was a concept she didn't even want to think about.

And from then on, she promised her mother to always weigh the consequences of her actions no matter how much she wanted to help.

Natasha had in turn explained that while this had been a punishment, she wanted Hermione to understand what it was like when sometimes the hard calls had to be made. She made tough decisions like that every day.

Sometimes not all of the SHIELD agents returned from a dangerous assignment. Sometimes one of them would volunteer to stay behind as they knew the mission would fail if they didn't and Natasha had been forced to let them go as there was no other way.

It was those types of decisions that she wanted Hermione to be self-aware of in the future as they could prove costly and she wanted her daughter to consider the consequences of behaving recklessly.

All in all it was a process Hermione never wanted to go through again and she knew her mother had gotten her point across.

On a happier note, she got to spend more time with her father and the two families of number 4 and 5 privet drive would often be seen on those lazy summer evenings in the backyards of their houses, talking and laughing together.

It was then that Natasha noticed some of the fatigue that had been in Thor's eyes had dropped from him and his handsome face seemed more youthful than it had before.

She was concerned about him.

Keeping the amount of secrets that he did had to have been weighing on him and she remembered how playful and teasing he had been when they had first met and she was glad to see some of that coming back.

He had developed a familial relationship with Regulus and Sirius as well which she was glad to see as deep in her heart, Natasha thought of them all, herself, Thor and Hermione along with Petunia, Regulus, Sirius her godsons and now little Rosalyn as one large happy family.

Strangely enough for someone who had previously not loved or cared for anyone outside of her adoptive father, she had carved out quite an enviable life for herself.

She who had thought she would never marry, never be able to have children or come home to her own house when she wanted to now had all three.

And now that Regulus had just had his interview with SHIELD and received confirmation that he would be working there, she would have a friend far from home as well.

Hermione meanwhile was in a similar blissful state as her mother. She didn't realize how stressed she had been with school and the discovery of an Infinity Stone as well as finding out she had a cousin and meeting her uncle for the first time, until she had actually been able to look back at it from a future perspective.

She had also been receiving a good many letters from her friends who were full of questions about how her summer was going and whether or not they would be able to get together sometimes during it.

Along with the simulation punishment her mother had been giving her, Hermione was also grounded for the entire months of July so any sort of vacationing with friends would have to wait until August.

Even still though, it was nice to get letters from her friends and seeing how their summer went. Susan was full to bursting with her trip to America coming up and all and she wrote asking Hermione if there was any way that they could meet with Natasha while they were there.

When Hermione mentioned that to her mum, the red head had laughed rather uproariously because Amelia Bones would have no idea that they had met already.

There was no way the head of the DMLE would have known however because Natasha had been under the effects of the poly juice potion at the time.

It was still funny to talk about nonetheless.

Natasha figured if she got to know Amelia well enough as herself there might be a chance one day that she might tell her the truth. Antoinette Desjardins didn't exist and in her place had been a highly trained agent who had just acted as a catalyst in order to lend support to get a friend of hers a trial.

But there was time enough for that later.

Sometime into the middle of July, Hermione received two letters from both Draco and Luna that perked her up right away.

Seeing as how she spoke to Harry and Dudley every day there wasn't much new going on with them other than playing with their new baby sister and doing their summer readings together. Her father had been gone for a few weeks but that was normal and her mum was only able to come home once every few days in order to see her, so aside from Harry and Dudley, Hermione was primarily left on her own.

It didn't help that as part of her grounding, Regulus had shown Natasha how to set up boundary wards around the entire property to prevent Hermione from leaving except in the case of an emergency.

That irked Hermione a little but it didn't prevent her from going to see Harry or Dudley and only certain people were allowed in. Those people were Natasha, Thor, and anyone from next door at number four along with her grandfather.

And those wards would hold until August when her grounding lifted.

Fortunately these wards didn't stop owls and so Hermione was still able to receive communication from her friends, see how they were doing and send replies.

One of the first ones she received however was a letter from Draco.

When it came, she tore into it eagerly, keen to see how someone else's summer was going because aside from her own summer readings, hers was impossibly tedious so far.

_Granger_

_I don't know if this letter will reach you before the package I sent will but I figured you'd get both at some point so it shouldn't really matter. Mother and Father and I have spent the last three weeks in the south of France in our chateau. I happened to find a book in our library that I thought might interest you. Given the entire mess that I got pulled into at the end of the school year with Infinity Stones and all you can imagine my surprise when I happened to find a book on them in our library here in France. I don't think Father even knew it was here because it was dusty and completely covered in golden chains that had magical runes on it. I was only able to break them with the help of our house elf Dobby who I swore to secrecy. There is some very surprising things in that book that I thought might interest you, so I am sending it to you. You might receive it at the same time as this letter or you might get it after but the point is, I think you should read it. How's the rest of your summer going by the way? Your mum still got you locked up at home?_

_Malfoy_

Hermione's eyes when she read the words _infinity stone _had gone enormous and all of a sudden she was reminded of the very artifact her father and uncle had taken back with them to Asgard.

_Just how much information are there on these things? _She thought to herself. _I was astonished when we found that book in the library at school. But I never thought there would be another!_

She took a moment to process that discover and then look out her window to see if there were any owls coming with a large package.

When the street of Privet Drive remained silent, Hermione turned back to the other letter which to her surprise and delight was from Luna. It had been sent by an odd looking grey owl with amber eyes that were far too large for its face and blinked slowly at her, reminding the copper haired eleven year old of her cousin far too much.

When she tore open the letter to see what the small blonde had to say, she was rather surprised.

_Dear Hermione_

_How has your summer holidays been going so far? I hope your mum hasn't been too hard on your about the whole infinity stone adventure. My mum was not pleased when daddy told her what I did and she's grounded me for the first month of holidays. She's making me clean the rafters of our house for Wrackspurts and they've really built their nests into the beams of our house over the year while I was at school. It's torture! Our house also is a spot where the Cornish Pixies like to come and sit around because its nice and warm and we live on a flat plain for miles around where there aren't any trees for them to nest in. I feel a little sorry for them, but they make too much noise and cause a mess. It's going to take me the rest of the month to get them out of our house!_

_Anyway, I'm writing you this letter because I wanted to see how your holidays are going and to ask you something too. Several months ago when I was home for Christmas, my daddy came to see us and he told me stories about all my other siblings. Most of them are in the other Nine Realms but there is one of them that is on earth that I can see. His name is Jormungandr and he spends most of his time as a great sea monster in the worlds oceans, but I've been told by my daddy that he can take the form of a man. _

_Now Daddy can go see him himself because he is forbidden to, but that doesn't mean that I can't. And Mummy promised me a few months ago that we can go look for him this summer. He was last sighted somewhere in the Atlantic ocean off the coast of New York city so we're going there first. I wanted to know if you wanted to come with me. Since we're cousins Jor is your cousin too and I wondered if you might like to meet him. _

_So that's all for right now. Please write back soon and let me know either way if you can or can't. Since my mummy promised me that we would go, she won't go back on her promise and she said I could bring you if I wanted. I hope you can come, it will be so much fun to see America and since Susie's going to be in America for nearly the entire summer, maybe we can see her too!_

_Oh, and one more thing. I take it Harry and Dudley don't know about our daddies being gods and all so I need to ask that you not tell them where you are going if your Mummy says yes to you coming with us. I know you don't like keeping secrets from them and I don't too, but that's what we have to do. _

_Anyway, write back soon and let me know if you can come. Also there's been an overabundance of Nargles in Great Britain all year so you might want to put a little bit of salt on the edges of your windows to make sure they don't get into your house. Mummy and I have had infestations of Nargles before and trust me, it is not pretty! _

_Hope to hear from you soon._

_Love Luna_

Hermione's heart was pounding from excitement towards the end of the letter at what Luna was telling her. She knew that her uncle had other children besides Luna but her father had never told her about them, saying only that it wasn't his story to share and if she ever met her uncle and he told her about them, well that was his choice.

Knowing that one of Luna's brothers was an enormous sea serpent was a bit of a shock but for whatever reason, it wasn't all that surprising.

Now that she knew Luna was family, Hermione was even more eager to meet her other cousins. It was a bit of a shame that she couldn't speak to the other ones as they weren't on earth itself but she would take one over none.

Already Hermione began to plan how on earth she was going to talk her mother into letting her go to America with Luna.

Something that always worked with Natasha were well thought out plans. If Hermione planned every aspect of the trip down to the minute details there was a far better chance that her mother would say yes.

There would surely be nothing better than spending the rest of her summer in America looking for one of her cousins.

The fact that he could take on the form of an enormous serpent was even more intriguing and Hermione was already itching to go.

She didn't really want to leave Harry and Dudley out of it but if she told them that Luna had invited her to go to America for whatever reason, than they were going to wonder why the blonde didn't invite them as well and then it would lead to a whole mess.

_We're really going to have to tell our friends sooner or later who our fathers are, _Hermione thought to herself. _After a while all of this cloak and dagger nonsense is beginning to become tiring. _

In the meantime however, the copper haired eleven year old lay back down on her bed and closed her eyes, imagining what the rest of the summer would be like if she were to spend it with her cousin in America.

_Merlin, that would be fantastic, _she thought. _I would finally get to learn more about my family and spend it with my cousin. Mum can't say no to that can she? _

After taking ten minutes to think it over, Hermione finally came up with a plan and got up to pace her room, wondering how to put it into effect.

Her Mum wouldn't be home until tonight and it would really help if Thor was there because she knew her dad would be on her side. But she knew she wouldn't be able to count on that. He had already been by recently to see them and Hermione knew it was risky for him to even spend a day with them.

He had been able to keep her and her mum a secret for twelve years and there was no way he was going to break that streak now.

So she was going to have to figure out some way to do it alone.

After another few minutes of pacing, Hermione paused in stride and began to smirk to herself.

She had a plan.

Ω

"So let me get this straight," Natasha said. "You want to go to America with your cousin and aunt to search for a large sea serpent who is also said serpent's brother?"

Hermione restrained a grimace. "Well when you put it like that it does sound a little crazy."

Natasha folded her arms across her chest. "You're right little girl, it does."

Hermione had made sure that the entire house was clean by the time her mum came home and that a nice dinner had been prepared in order to sweeten the pot.

Needless to say her espionage agent mother wasn't convinced that her daughter had done this simply out of the goodness of her heart and had immediately been suspicious.

And though Hermione was a good liar, she had never been good enough to fool her mother who had been trained to spot a falsehood since she was a child from Hermione's grandfather.

And so the eleven year old had broken down and told her everything.

Needless to say, Natasha had not been impressed.

"And what makes you think I'm about to let you go traipsing halfway across the world after the stunt you pulled at the end of school this year? She asked.

Hermione took a deep breath. "Because this is family and for the longest time I thought I was the only person I knew who was like this. Now that I've found Luna and she's found me it helps me to know that I'm not the only one anymore. But it isn't enough. Luna's apparently got three brothers and a sister that she's never met before. She's the youngest of Uncle Loki's children and she wants to know more about her family. I do too because her family is my family. I don't have any other brothers and sisters and Mum I know if Aunt Nina was alive today and you had the chance to see her again, you would do it. Isn't this the same thing?"

She knew it was a bit of a low blow bringing her aunt into this because she knew her mum missed her sister every day. It was also a bit of a gamble. Natasha might not appreciate Hermione bringing up painful memories of the past and thus shut down any idea of Hermione going to America but it was her trump card.

After a long silence the strawberry blonde looked up at her mother to see an utterly blank expression on her face. It was almost as if Hermione were looking into an enormously deep lake and couldn't see the bottom.

Finally Natasha spoke.

"You're right."

Hermione blew out a breath. "I am?"

The red head nodded. "You do have a point. I would give anything in order to see your aunt again and no matter how bizarre this is or strange, this is family. And family is something you can't really turn away from."

Hermione felt as if she were about to explode from excitement.

"However," Natasha said holding up a finger as if to put a tamp on her daughter's enthusiasm. "That does not mean that there aren't going to be restrictions. You are going to check in with me each and every evening while you are in New York so I know where you are. This little expedition will be no longer than sixteen days and if you do not find Luna's brother in that time, I want you to let me know and I will come and bring you back home immediately. Also if you are going to be in New York, there is some follow up that I need to do with one of our…newest recruits so I will make an effort to see you every day."

Hermione's eyes lit up. "You say that like it's a bad thing. I would _love _to see you every day!"

Natasha's mouth curved into a smirk. "Don't get too excited yet little girl, you haven't spent every day with me in a very long time. I think you've forgotten what it's like. Also this grounding is not going to let up until August is here so if you think you're in the clear for what you did at the end of the school year, think again. You mess up for any reason between now and the beginning of August, I will cancel this trip."

But nothing she said then was enough to bring Hermione down at that point. She was too excited to do nothing but agree and soon after when her mum had gone to take a shower and get to bed, the strawberry blonde dashed up the stairs to pen a letter to her cousin, telling her that she was conditionally allowed to go to America with her and barring a disaster, she would see her at the end of the month.

She also would need to do some research on Luna's brother as well in order to know what to look for.

Hermione knew she wanted to go into this with her eyes wide open as she liked to know the situation ahead of hand before she did anything.

Usually of course.

There were always exceptions to every rule.

There would be a time soon coming however when there would be no plan to combat what happened next…and Hermione was going to have to think on her feet like never before.

Ω

He had been searching for a long time.

Or at least it felt like he had been following the energy trails. Ever since he had had that duel with that foolish warlock over the Soul Gem which he had managed to procure even though the gem itself would slowly drain him of his own power, he had been searching for the others. Not only so he would be able to achieve his deepest desire but also to balance out the influence of the Soul gem. The power gem or the sorcerer's gem would do nicely for that but he had neither and he needed them.  
Infinity gems were elusive pieces after all and each and every one had hidden themselves from him for a long time.

He needed them though.

Only then would death turn her gaze upon him and grant him her love.

And that was something that he would pursue until the ends of the earth.

He had assembled the gauntlet, and now all he had to do was fill it with those powerful beautiful pieces.

After searching the universe for centuries there was one thing the titan had learned…and that was patience.

At the moment however, he did know that he was not all knowing and having only retrieved the soul gem at this time there were still six more that he needed.

Perhaps that was where the idea for help came in.

Maybe that was why he was in Valhalla.

At the moment, the titan was standing on what was an enormous balcony many entirely of ice.

It was bitterly cold up there but he didn't feel it. Any other mortal who was in the place and not dead would have but the fact that he was in possession of the soul stone allowed him to enter the realm with no residual side effects.

The realm of Valhalla existed in a place almost entirely in the minds of the mortals who had long died and dwelt there. Whatever they thought the place to be, it was.

But for those beings that were still alive, it was a stationary realm.

At the moment, the balcony he was standing on looked out over a wide icy lake with various protrusions of rock coming up out of the water. Down below the balcony itself what seemed a mile below it was a long rock bridge that the stone sentries of the dead guarded the realm of Valhalla.

The entrance to the realm could of course only be breached by those who were dead but the bridge did not have a keeper like that of Asgard that the god Heimdall guarded.

The fortress in which he was currently was built into a mountain made completely of jagged rock that was impossibly high and seemed to go in forever.

But of course eternity was forever.

Being a being who could never truly die the place had no hold on him and the souls who occupied it were of no interest to him.

Except for one.

She was one of the advisors of Hela and he had been waiting patiently to speak with her for over an hour.

Having the gift of prophecy he needed her to tell him where one or both of the gems were so that he would be able to go after them.

Just when he thought he would blast the door down of the room he had been waiting in, there was the turn of a knob, a soft click and two women appeared before him.

They were vastly different in appearance.

One had pale golden hair that was almost white and a pair of piercing green eyes. She was tall with a slender form and figure and quite beautiful to behold. There was a cold aura about her that was deadly though.

If he were but a mortal, he might have been entranced by her.

The other creatures was vastly different. She was old, hunched, bent over and had the claw like hands of a bird that were clutching an old gnarled staff. Her dark blue robes drooped off of her pale frame and the stranger could see a pair of lamp like yellow eyes peering at him from under that hood.

The door of the room closed behind him and the stranger knew they were alone so it was then that he rose to his feet.

He was taller than both the females by a good deal and towered over both of them, casting his long shadow across the room.

"Hela," he said in his deep voice and bowed low. He didn't need to of course, he far outstripped her in power or he would when he had either the power gem or the sorcerer's gem, but it never hurt to begin a conversation on someone's good side. She could just as easily prevent Volla from speaking with him and he didn't need that. He had been weakened in power by the damnable warlock and so needed to use every last bit of cunning that he still possessed.

The Asgardian goddess of death looked him over with disgust on her beautiful face. "Thanos you old mutterer. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

He did not seem to be put off by her tone and that was due to centuries of being shunned by his own people.

He did not have the looks of Starfox his thrice damned brother, what was left to him but cunning?"

"I am in need of your assistance my lady," he said in his rough gravelly voice.

Hela raised an eyebrow. "My lady? It's been a long time since I have been called that. The last person to call me that was that damnable Odin. My _grandfather._"

She spat the word as if it were a curse which caused the titan to smile.

She was angry….good, he would need to make use of that.

"And what could one of the last eternals possibly want from me?" Hela asked, and the titan was almost able to taste the sardonicism in her tone.

"In this case, it is two things. One is from you and the other…well only your servant can provide that one."

Hela's bitterness turned to one of intrigue. "And what would you ask of Volla?"

This whole time the crone had been utterly silent and had been merely looking about the room with her lamp like yellow eyes.

"She does have the gift of prophecy does she not?"

Hela nodded. "She does. And you have need of future predictions. Why would one of the eternals, those who would live forever have need to know the future now?"

Thanos smiled. It was a cold smile that said he knew something that she didn't. "Suppose I have great need of the meaning of the future. Is that so wrong?"

"No…but if that is so, what am I to gain from allowing you to hear the words of my servant?"

She certainly was her father's daughter.

It was a shame that the crackpot fool Odin had banished Hela to serve in the realm of the dead, forbidding her and her trickster father from ever seeing each other.

But Loki's loss was his gain.

"I do as a matter of fact have something to offer you," the titan said. "But I can only utter it when I hear the words of your servant."

Hela looked as if she wished to roll her eyes. "And again, why should I allow my servants mouth to be opened if you cannot first give me what it is that you think I want most."

"And that is where you are going to have to trust me beautiful Hela," the titan said smoothly.

"And what would you know about trust?"

Thanos chuckled. "I will know very much about it once Volla tells me what I need to know."

Hela looked as if she were about to respond when all of a sudden, something unexpected happened.

Volla, the crone who had been silent up until this point suddenly opened her mouth and in a hollow, rattling, creaking voice….she began to speak.

_"The giant wolf Skoll will finally devour the sun goddess and his brother Hati will consume Mani Solveig's brother the moon god, plunging Midgard and the Nine Realms into complete darkness. The stars will vanish from the sky. The cockerel Fjalar will crow to the giants and the golden cockerel Gullinkambi will crow to the Asgardians. A third cockerel will raise the dead of Hel.  
_

_"Midgard will be struck with earthquakes, the Fenris wolf will be released from his chains. The sea will rise up because Jormungandr will stain the soil and the sky with his poison. The waves caused by the serpent's emerging will set free the ship Naglfar and with the giant Hymir as their commander, the Frost Giants will sail towards the battlefield. From the realm of the dead, a second ship will set sail carrying the inhabitants of Hel with the trickster god Loki as its commander. A third ship bearing the other children of the gods will follow from Midgard itself, and it shall be commanded by Thor."  
_

Hela's face had suddenly gone white…she now looked like one of the souls in her realm.

_"The fire giant Surtur will leave Muspelheim with his children to join forces against the gods. Surtur carrying a sword that blazes like the sun itself will scorch the earth.  
_

_"In Asgard, Heimdall will sound his horn, calling all of the people of Asgard and the fallen heroes of Valhalla to the battlefield. From all corners of the Nine Realms, Gods, giants, demons dwarves, dark elves and light elves will ride towards the huge plain of Vigrid where the last battle will be fought. Odin will battle with the Fenris wolf and Jormungandr will lay waste to the battlefield. Loki and Heimdall will meet for the final time…and none will survive the battle._

Hela gasped._  
_

_"The battle will wage on for long years and even in the time when the gods of Asgard appear to achieve victory…they will all be betrayed by one close to them…to he who holds the stone of magic. He who is Odin's third son will cause the world to be laid to waste…he who is by his side and is not yet claimed."  
_

"How is this possible?" Hela whispered but the titan felt a surge of energy pass through his veins. The Stone of magic! That had to be what he was searching for!

_"The battle waged between Odin and the Fenris wolf will seem to last for an eternity, but in the end…Fenris will swallow Odin whole. Surtur will fling fire in every direction, burning the Nine Realms and killing its inhabitants  
_

_"And once the destruction is complete, a new world will rise to life. A new age of men will come forth and all that once was…will be forgotten."_

As the words of Volla faded away, both beings in the room, the goddess of death and the titan were completely silent.

"Ragnarok," Hela whispered. "The end times."

In contrast with her white face, Thanos was feeling enormously satisfied.

"Odin's son who is not yet claimed holds the stone of magic," he murmured to himself. "How interesting."

Hela turned to him finally. "Did you get what you came for you old mutterer?"

He chuckled. "Not quite my dear. I take it you do not wish to see the death of your beloved father?"

Hela turned her green gaze on him, her eyes blazing with an unearthly fire. She said nothing but when Thanos saw the tightness in her jaw, he knew he had her.

If the god who had sired Hela were to pass from this world than there was a possibility he would end up in her realm but with the rebirth of a new world, they would still be separated.

He saw how much she hated Odin for what he had done and even though she was separated from her father, he saw that she still loved him.

And it was that weakness that would be easy to exploit.

"The children of Thor," Hela murmured to herself. "How interesting. I was not aware that my father's brother had any children."

And that had been something else that was interesting enough as well. In the end times that had happened thousands upon thousands of years ago, the god of thunder had not been part of this prophecy…but clearly time had changed something.

The god of thunder and lightning having a child was something that Thanos would need to look into.

For the moment however his mind was more on the stone of magic that the crone had mentioned. According to her own words, it was in the hand of the son of Odin who had not been claimed.

He needed to know who that was.

The titan turned back to the goddess. "Tell me something my dear. You cannot leave this place can you?"

"You know that fool!" Hela spat. "I am bound to this realm for eternity!"

"What if you were not," the titan said almost purring his answers. "What if there was a way to be free?"

Her eyes narrowed. "There is none. The fool Odin ruined any chance of that when he banished me from Asgard."

"It seems to me that the way to allow you to return is through your father," Thanos mused. "What do you know of his origins? Surely he has told you?"

Though the soul gem was currently slowly leeching part of his power from him, the titan still had the ability of telepathy and there were few things that were hidden from him.

It was in Hela's mind that he realized the truth.

Loki was the son of Lauffey, the king of the Frost Giants on Jotunheim.

Could this be the son who was not claimed?

Upon realizing that Lauffey could prove to be a valuable ally for getting into Asgard and at the one who was in possession of the stone itself as he was weakened because of the Soul stone, Thanos began to smile.

Hela glared at him. "Get out of my mind you old mutterer."

"Certainly my dear," the titan said in a placating manner.

The moment he had withdrawn from her mind, he made for the door, having received all the information that he needed to know.

He was stopped when Hela called out after him. "And what about what it is that I want?"

This having been his whole plan to tempt her the titan stopped a smirk on his face and turned around to face her. "Of course my dear. And now that I know the prophecy I know what it is that you want."

He strode back towards her and stopped right in front of her, his own discolored and misshapen face inches from her beautiful one. He eyes her for a moment before he opened his mouth and fairly purred: "How would you like your father back?"

Ω

**Whew, sorry for the long wait guys, hopefully I'll be able to update more frequently after this. So Thanos already has one infinity stone and he's searching for the others which is going to take a while as we know. But he will have them eventually. In the meantime down on earth, Hermione and Luna are going to go in search of Jormungandr which will be interesting enough in an of itself. Yes, the plot of the Thor movie will be making its way into the story soon. *Rubs hands together gleefully* I really can't wait for that part as I have so many ideas to be put on paper that it isn't even funny. Anyway because of that, there will be some rather tense times coming soon. But that's all for now, don't forget to review and happy reading everyone!**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34

New York was nothing like Hermione had ever seen before.

She had thought Hogwarts and the surrounding area of Scotland was impressive but New York was a very different sort of shock factor.

The lights and the business and the sounds and the people were far different than anything she had ever seen.

Americans also seemed to be far more loud, brash and pushy than other people she had seen before.

Now perhaps that was because she was from a country that was perpetually polite and said excuse me after almost every word but it made her stand out all the more.

Another thing that drew attention was her accent. It was something that Americans were fascinated by.

They were absolutely shameless in calling her cute, especially the woman at the front desk that she and Luna had checked into along with her mother.

As soon as Pandora had learned that Luna and Hermione were cousins on the god side of their family she had been shocked and posited that she had known it right away for the lack of Nargles around her.

It also turned out that Luna's mother was as…strange as Luna was.

Pandora Lovegood was a seer so it wasn't uncommon for her suddenly stop what she was doing and drift off into flights of fancy no matter where she was.

Hermione was in for a treat on the plain when they had apparated to the hotel in New York City and Pandora had been in the midst of speaking with the clerk at the front desk when all of a sudden her pale silvery blue eyes had clouded over and she had begun to mumble something incoherent.

Apparently this was a normal occurrence in the Lovegood household however because Luna seamlessly took over for her mother and gave their money to the rather stunned clerk who gave them their room key.

"Er…Luna?" Hermione asked as the small blonde went to take her mother's hand and her cousin grabbed their suitcases.

"Yes Mione?" the blonde said dreamily as she followed the copper haired eleven year old down the hall to the elevator.

Hermione set their cases down and pushed the button for the elevator while keeping a wary eye on her aunt Pandora. "Does this happen…frequently?"

"Oh all the time, Luna said cheerfully. "When we're at home its often odd for Mummy to not go into a fog when we're feeding the owls."

"…Okay," Hermione said. "Does she…say anything when she's like this?"

"Sometimes," Luna replied. "Most of the time she's seeing certain things. Mummy has had the gift since she was little and there were times when she would say odd things to be about a rare species of Blibbering humdinger that I had never heard before and knew didn't exist and then I wondered if something was really wrong."

_Really? _That _was when you began to wonder if something was wrong?_

Thankfully she didn't say that.

"How long does it typically last?" Hermione asked looking up at her blonde aunt suspiciously as the elevator doors dinged open and Luna led her mother into the small space.

"Oh no more than five minutes," the blonde said cheerily as the doors closed shut behind them. "The long time is when its lasted for longer is when she inadvertenly summoned Daddy the first time."

_And that is a story that I still have yet to hear, _Hermione thought to herself. _Granted Luna doesn't know how my mum and dad met but I am dying to know the story of how my famous trickster uncle met a woman and settled down. From what Dad has told me, Uncle Loki made it clear that he didn't find the women of Midgard as attractive as those of Asgard. But seeing as how me and Luna were born around the same time, I can now understand that to be a steaming pile of - _

Just then the elevator dinged and with it, Aunt Pandora seemed to come out of her trance. She blinked and looked around, her cloudy blue eyes coming back into focus. "Good gracious, what happened?"

"It was just another trance Mum," Luna explained cheerily as she led the older Lovegood off of the elevator with a puzzled Hermione following. "You'll be able to tell me what it was about later. For now, let's unpack."

Hermione glanced down at the number on the room key which read thirty seven.

The hotel they were staying in was by no means fancy, but it was not a dive like she had seen some hotels were like on the telly.

She remembered watching those police dramas with Harry and Dudley just last summer and when they had come home for Christmas and all of the shadiest deals seemed to take place in those dive motels that no one seemed to care about or went to anymore.

Thinking of her two best friends caused Hermione to grimace. She had told them she was going to be spending a few weeks with her granddad and wouldn't be back until the end of August.

They had bemoaned the fact that she was getting to escape from her enforced restrictions but had told her to have a good time and they would see her a week before school started.

She hated lying to them but telling the truth about how she and Luna would be in America searching for her half-brother who also happened to be a sea monster because their father was a god was just a can of worms that didn't need to be opened.

It even sounded crazy just thinking about it.

_And speaking of crazy…I need to call Mum the moment I get in. No doubt she's waiting by the phone. If I don't check in soon, there will be nothing to stop her from coming here and taking me back to England. She already knows what hotel we'll be in._

Surprisingly enough, Aunt Pandora had managed to get rooms in a pretty nice hotel in Time's Square. She had claimed that the amount of people in the place and the noises would chase all of the Nargles away.

Hermione couldn't think up a reason for why this was not so, so she went along with it. Besides, she had never seen Times Square.

The moment Pandora unlocked the room door, they were presented with a large room with two beds and a very comfortable looking sofa attached to an adjoining bath. There were two large windows that looked out over Times Square so the inhabitants could see everything that was going on. Even from this distance, Hermione could see the hustle and bustle of the traffic down below and the loud murmur of people talking to one another. She could also see the bright lights that never seemed to turn off flashing and blinking against billboards that advertised products she had never seen before.

_Merlin this really is the city that never sleeps._

"Why don't you girls settle in and unpack. I'm feeling a little grimy from having to walk through the city. I think I'll take a shower and then we can arrange a plan," Pandora said.

Both girls nodded and while the tall blonde extracted her clothes from her bag and disappeared into the bathroom, Hermione flopped onto the sofa and flipped open her cell phone.

She stared at the screen for a moment, debating whether or not it as worth it to call before she remembered the near incident before school ended and shuddered.

There was nothing that was worth the look on her mom's face.

So while Luna began to unpack her own bag humming quietly to herself, Hermione quickly punched in the numbers for her mother's private cell phone and placed the device to her ear, listening as it rang.

On the fourth ring she heard her mother's crisp voice over the line. "Romanov."

Hermione smirked. "Mum, you know you don't need to answer with your usual work line every time I call you. No one else uses your private line but me."

There was the sound of something muffled in the background and then the sound of a door closing before her mother spoke again.

"I know little girl but when I'm at work and the beeper on the phone goes off, its simply better to pretend that this is my work device."

"I know."

"I take it you got in alright?"

"Yes, we're in the hotel in Times Square right now. Aunt Pandora is in the shower and Luna is unpacking."

"Good. There's been no trouble then?"

Hermione frowned. "No…why would there be trouble?"

Natasha chuckled. "No matter where you are little girl…trouble seems to find you anywhere. I need to keep on top of it before it happens."

Hermione rolled her eyes, glad her mother couldn't see her. "I sincerely doubt there is going to be any trouble on this trip."

"Ah you say that now but the next thing you know I will be getting a call asking if I can get in touch with your father because you've run into a problem you can't solve."

Hermione glanced over at her friend who seemed totally oblivious to everything that was going on around them and slipped outside of the room door before casting a silencing charm about herself. "We're not dealing with an Infinity Stone this time Mum."

Natasha chuckled darkly on the other end. "So you say little girl but you're also tracking down your cousin's half brother. That seems dangerous enough."

Hermione huffed. "I sincerely doubt that Jormungandr is going to be in the form of an enormous sea serpent if we find him."

Natasha didn't say anything but Hermione could practically feel the disbelief over the line.

She sighed. Was it ever going to be simple to get her mother to trust her again? "I'll be fine."

"I'm counting on it," Natasha said in a grim tone over the line.

There was a sudden pause in the conversation and then her mother came back on the line. "Listen little girl, I need to go. There is a briefing meeting in two minutes."

"Alright," Hermione said. "I'll call you tonight before I go to bed."

"See that you do," Natasha said in her familiar crisp tone. "I'll talk to you later."

After they had said their goodbyes, Hermione flipped the phone closed and slipped back into the room before shutting the door behind her.

Luna looked up from the book she was reading. "Everything alright?"

Hermione nodded. "I just needed to check in with Mum. I feel like she's been keeping me on a leash lately after the Sorcerer's Stone incident."

Luna laughed. "You think you've got it bad? At least you don't see your mum every day to remind you of what happened. My mum is home almost all the time it seems when she's writing for the Quibbler and lately she's never missed an opportunity to remind me of what happened."

Hermione grimaced. She could see how that would be trying.

"Anyway, so how is Aunt Tasha?" Luna asked cheerily making a space on the bed so Hermione could sit down next to her. "It's been a while since I've seen her."

Hermione chuckled. "She's fine, running Washington ragged but otherwise she's alright. I wonder if Susie and her aunt have come yet."

Luna hummed before taping her finger against the side of her mouth. "I got a letter from Susie earlier in the summer that said they were waiting on the international portkey to Washington to be ready and then they were going to be gone for three weeks. It's possible that they might still be there."

"Maybe."

Luna glanced at the door to the bathroom and noted that the water was still on. "And speaking of possibilities, you still haven't told me how your mum and your dad met. My daddy's told me all about Uncle Thor but not that he was married and had a daughter my age too. I want to know all about it."

Hermione smiled and ran a hand through her copper curls. "Alright, but then you have to promise me you will tell me about how your parents met too."

"Deal."

Hermione immediately lapsed into the story of how her parents had met at a political dinner in Moscow and then had been sent on a mission together to retrieve a weapon for the Russian government. It was during that time that Hermione had been conceived but Natasha hadn't found out about it until nearly a month and a half later after Thor was long gone."

"What happened then?" the small blonde asked with her eyes wide.

"Well…because of my mum's…advanced makeup it shouldn't be possible for her to be able to have children and she knew if her bosses found out she was pregnant with me well then…the pregnancy would have been terminated."

Luna's face turned white and Hermione continued. "Thankfully Mum left before that happened and because my granddad works for the British Secret Service she was able to get a British passport and escape to England where she went into hiding with me for nine months. After that, she joined the British Secret Service before becoming a part of SHIELD."

"What about your dad?" Luna asked. "How did he find you?"

Hermione chuckled. "He actually didn't know about me for a while. It was only closer to the due date that he returned to Russia and found the scientist that did the tests on mum to tell her she was pregnant. Knowing that dad was my mum's last partner before the pregnancy announcement came it was easy to deduce that he was the father and so the scientist told him."

"What did he do?"

"Well naturally dad was beyond shocked but that only doubled his efforts to find mum and me and on the day I was born he arrived in the hospital. To this day my mum tells me she has never been more shocked and surprised than when she saw him standing in the doorway of the delivery room."

"So he was there for the birth?"

"Yes. He still likes to tell me that my mum nearly crushed his hand when the contractions came on. But mum just says that he likes to exaggerate."

Luna sighed somewhat dreamily. "That's so romantic."

Hermione chuckled. "I don't know about that. My life with mum and dad isn't exactly conventional."

"Neither is mine and yet somehow we all survive," Luna put in. "We do the best we can and be together when we can. Family is family no matter how odd or abnormal it is."

Hermione chuckled, a little surprised at her friend's insight but then remembering that she had been put in Ravenclaw for a reason. "I suppose that's true."

She changed the subject then. "So do you think we'll find Jormungandr on this trip?"

Luna sighed. "I hope so. If we don't then I intend to keep searching but we'll never know unless we try. I know I need to find him because he's the only one that's on Midgard and Daddy tells me that unless something drastic were to happen to grandfather to make him rescind this law on all demigod children…well then I'll never get to go to Asgard and the rest of the Nine Realms and see my other siblings."

There was frustration in her voice and Hermione understood where she was coming from. If she found out she had four other siblings by her father before he had ever met her mother she would stop at nothing until she had found them.

It seemed that gods and magical laws were preventing Luna's efforts to find three of them however.

"Did your dad tell you about the others?" she asked trying to distract her cousin.

It worked instantly.

"Oh yes," Luna said brightening immediately. "I have two other brothers. One's name is Fenris and he's a wolf."

Hermione blinked and opened her mouth before shutting it. _You know what? I don't think I want to know. _"And the other?"

Luna's mouth drew up in a bow in frustration. "I can never pronounce his name but it starts with an S…oh and he's a horse. Grandfather decided to keep him near and use him as a weapon for battle."

Her tone turned dark then and Hermione grimaced. This brother sounded no better than a slave.

"And your other sibling?" she asked.

"That one's the only other girl. Her name's Hela and she lives in the realm of the Dead…so I'll only be able to see her when I die," Luna explained somewhat sadly. "But the good news is that I can spend all of eternity getting to know her."

Hermione blinked. "I suppose that's true. Sometimes I wish I had siblings. But I know Dad doesn't have any in the centuries before he met Mum. I asked him one day about a year ago because I was feeling a little lonely and then he told me that if I were to ever have another sibling we would share the same mother and that was that."

Luna smiled. "That's kind of romantic that your mum is the only woman your dad has ever loved. I don't think Daddy really loved any of those other women but I can't always tell with him. It's a little frustrating."

Hermione chuckled. "I'll bet that would be. Dad still doesn't tell me everything about Asgard and I've been dying to for just a scrap of information about his home but he's so secretive all the time."

"Daddy is too," Luna said sadly. "But I know why, it's because if Grandfather ever found out about me he would prevent Daddy from seeing me. He says he keep all these secrets for our protection."

Hermione nodded. "I know. Dad's told me the same thing. Both he and Uncle Loki have broken Asgardian law by having children although I'm not entirely sure why such a law was put in place."

"Daddy won't tell me," Luna put in. "He's says I'll learn why when I'm older."

Hermione muttered a curse in Russian beneath her breath. While she understood the need for secrecy reticence had almost been her and her mother's undoing a long time ago.

She was the daughter of a god, which alone was a secret in and of itself.

And now that she had a family both human and godly, it was proving to be an even bigger burden to keep.

Not even Harry and Dudley truly knew of her own powers and that of her father and they wouldn't know until Thor had given Hermione leave to do so.

They knew the truth about her mother but no one besides Clint at SHIELD knew about her.

_Odin my life is one big secret._

Luna had been about to speak again when they were interrupted by the sound of a door opening and they both turned to see Pandora coming out of the bathroom dressed in jeans, a sweater and towelling off her wet blonde hair.

"Have the both of you unpacked?" she asked.

"As much as we're able to," Hermione replied.

"Good, then we should go and get a bite to eat before we head to our purpose for coming to New York," Pandora said.

"Do you have any ideas about where Jormungandr could be Aunt Pandora?" Hermione asked as she sat up on the bed.

The Seer's eyes gleamed. "As a matter of fact, I do. I had a friend of mine at the Ministry do some checking around for me and he gave me this."

As she spoke, Pandora reached into her own suitcase and brought forth a rather thick book that appeared as if it was at least two centuries old.

"Merlin," Luna said as she sat down by her mother on the bed. "Where on earth did your friend find that?"

"It pays to have friends in the curse breaking department little dove," Pandora said fondly. "This is the biography of Marek Goshawk."

Luna gasped and Hermione's eyes widened. "And I take it that he is related to the woman who wrote our charms textbook."

"Correct," Pandora said. "Marek was not only a curse breaker but he was a traveller and an inventor and before he had reached his fourth decade of life he had travelled all over the world. However it wasn't until he had become older that he came to the Atlantic Ocean and discovered something truly interesting."

"What was it?"

"There had been rumors of an island off the coast of Iceland in the North Atlantic that was said to harbor the relics of Vikings from ages past and that said relics were cursed. The British Ministry of Magic sent Goshawk in to take a closer look and hopefully to retrieve the items before any other country got ideas about stealing them."

"Why did he sail?" Hermione asked. "Why didn't he just use a portkey?"

"Because of the magical quality of items on the island, they prevented any magical being from apparating or using a portkey to and from the island so he had to use the Muggle method.

"While he was sailing for the island however and was just several hundred miles off the coast of New York, he came in contact with a rather terrifying creature. At first he thought it was an island because of its immense size but as he came closer he saw that it was moving and sinking below the water almost as if there were great hills upon it that were slowly moving in and out of the water."

"I am guessing that this is the elusive Jormungandr," Hermione speculated.

"It is certainly the only option that even comes close," Pandora explained. "Marek detailed that he caught a glimpse of its head and noted that it looked like an enormous sea serpent. It was headed for the mainland so he decided to follow it. Before he got several knots close to it however, the serpent dove deep and he lost sight of it."

"Interesting," Hermione mused.

"Indeed. Goshawk reported his findings after her returned to England with the items but no one believed him. So all he really could do was detail the findings in a journal of his and his descendants ensured they were put into his biography."

"And you think this could be Jormungandr?" Luna asked, her eyes alight with excitement.

Hermione felt a pang in her heart. As much as she didn't envy the position her grandfather had put her uncle in she couldn't help but wish that she had siblings of her own blood.

She had asked her mother once why she and her dad didn't have more children and Natasha had calmly told her that Hermione was more than enough.

Granted, Hermione would never want her father to experience the same pain that Uncle Loki had when his children were ripped from his arms, but she couldn't help but wish for another sibling at times to grow up in her own house and to spend time with when her mother was away.

It didn't exactly help that Harry and Dudley had a new sibling in Rosalyn and had been rather preoccupied with her throughout the course of the summer.

But she also knew she was being selfish.

One demi god child was already dangerous enough but two was asking for trouble.

Maybe…Maybe someday when the ridiculous law that had been put in place was repealed by her father and her uncle…then it would be possible.

Until then there was nothing else to do but wait.

"It's possible," Pandora said breaking into Luna's thoughts. "We won't know until we find out."

"But we don't know exactly where Marek's location was when he saw the serpent," Hermione said. "Does the book say?"

"Unfortunately not," Pandora replied. "However if we are looking for details on Marek's life and his findings, our best bet would be the American Ministry of Magic which incidentally happens to be located right here in New York."

Hermione shared a smile with Luna. "Well then what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Ω

_How the bloody hell did I get roped into this?_

That very morning Natasha had risen from her bed and left the dorm room at SHIELD headquarters only to be called to the Director's wall to wall glass office for a meeting that he had requested with her and her alone.

From there, Fury had proceeded to tell her that a representative from the British Magical government would be arriving that day and staying in SHIELD headquarters for a week as a sort of way of extending Muggle and Wizarding relations.

SHIELD was the top branch of law enforcement in the world and it made sense that even the magical societies were taking notice.

But it was the name of the representative that had gotten to Natasha.

Amelia Bones.

All of a sudden the red head was reminded of when she had sat across from the woman who was the head of the DMLE with Regulus almost eight years earlier and championed for the right to give Sirius a trial.

She knew it was impossible for Amelia Bones to know that Natasha Romanov and Antoinette Desjardins were the same person but at the same time, the irony was sharp.

Apparently she would be bringing her niece, who was none other than one of Hermione's best friends, Susan Bones.

As if things weren't already strange enough.

At least Regulus was now a part of SHIELD though.

He had had his interview with them just before school ended for Hermione and her friends and had impressed Fury enough to put Regulus in training right away.

Natasha had warned her friend beforehand that anything she put him through would be nothing compared to what was waiting for him in the sparring centers of SHIELD and that he would need to be put through rigorous training to assess his command of Muggle technology.

Fury didn't know that Regulus was a wizard, but then he didn't know that Natasha was a witch either.

Reg had been recommended for SHIELD because of his rather unique knack for negotiations and the fact that he could get whatever he wanted out of the people he apprehended.

International crime and busting mob bosses had been a lot easier with the use of the spell of Legilimency which enabled Natasha to look inside the minds of criminals and take what she needed from them.

Because of this skill, both she and Regulus had become top negotiators and questioners at SHIELD.

The beautiful red head had a feeling that even if Fury didn't know about their magic, he had a feeling they had some sort of innate ability that enabled them to crack down on criminals the way no other person could.

For all they knew he thought they could read minds.

Ah well, she was content to let him think that for the time being. Natasha wasn't completely sure how well her boss would take to the idea of magic so she was content to let the matter rest for the time being.

Regulus had suggested that he go with her to show Madam Bones and her niece around the SHIELD facilities but Natasha had said that that might not be a good idea given the fact that both Amelia and Regulus had gone to school together and she might recognize him.

The less ties they had to the past, the better.

So she had volunteered to go alone.

That didn't seem to stop Regulus from walking with her down the hallway to the landing bay however.

"I hadn't thought that the Director had contact at all with the magical world," Regulus said quietly to her as they got into the elevator.

"There are things about Fury that I will never know," Natasha said calmly as she turned to look out the glass windows of the elevator as they slowly began the decent to the ground floor. "He's a man who plays with his cards very close to his chest."

"You don't say," Regulus muttered sarcastically. "I had an inkling to use Legilimency on him once I first met him but at the same time I had a feeling he would know about it instantly and there was no way I'd want to be out of a job before I had even started."

Natasha smirked. "Good choice."

The elevator doors slid open quietly and the two agents walked down the hall towards the double doors which led to the airplane hangar.

"I wonder if Amy's changed much since we saw her last," Regulus mused as they walked.

Natasha frowned at her friend. "You knew her before at Hogwarts didn't you? I recall you telling me something about an acquaintance with her before Sirius's trial nearly eight years ago."

"I did," Regulus said. "Don't tell Tuney but there were quite a few people at school who had a crush on her."

"Including you?" Natasha asked smirking.

"Including me."

"They why didn't you make a move?"

Regulus shrugged. "She was a Hufflepuff, I was a Slytherin. The two houses didn't generally mix. The badgers were seen as inferior."

Natasha rolled her eyes. "That house rivalry that Hogwarts has going on is extremely stupid. You're all students, you're all there to learn why can't there be common ground based on that?"

Regulus chuckled. "Now I know where Hermione gets her rationale from. It's hard to explain until you've actually gone to school there. There's always a preconceived notion dating right back to the Founders that each house as known for a certain trait and somewhere along the line that translated to positive or negative connotations. For example, Slytherin is known for its cunning and ambition. Gryffindor is known for its bravery and courage. Ravenclaw for its intelligence and logic and Hufflepuff for its loyalty. All of these traits are good, it's the perspective with which they are viewed that became the problem. And that's where the house rivalry came in. Slytherins viewed Gryffindors as brash and foolish, Gryffindors viewed Slytherins as cowardly and afraid for not jumping into fights as they did. Hufflepuffs were seen by all as weak because of the lack of great deeds the badgers performed throughout the centuries and Ravenclaws were seen as eccentric and novelties for their desire to constantly read. None of this is true of course."

Natasha smirked at the man she viewed as her brother in law. "Are you sure you should have joined SHIELD Reg? You seem to possess enough knowledge to be a teacher."

Her friend chuckled. "Having knowledge and being able to impart it are two different things Nat. Changing someone's perspective isn't easy, especially if that has been the stereotype for thousands of years. People won't change if they don't want to. That's something you can't teach."

Natasha snorted. "I'm glad our kids are different."

Regulus laughed. "Agreed. I was a little worried when I heard that Hermione and Harry and Dudley had befriended Draco Malfoy at the beginning of the year but it seems that my worries were unfounded. He doesn't seem to be the clone of his father that I thought he was."

"You knew Lucius Malfoy didn't you?" Natasha asked.

"Knew him? He recruited me to the join the Dark Lord's side in the war over ten years ago," Regulus put in his expression turning dark. "He was one of their most vehement followers and his home was used as a base of operations for Lord Voldemort's activities. I lost count of the times I went there when I was still in school to attend meetings."

"So this guy was hard-core into the dark magic then," Natasha said.

Regulus laughed but there was no humor in it. "It's not just him. The Malfoys are a family that has always been traditionally dark. Their roots go back to the middle ages where the family actually kept dragons and raised them for…hunting purposes."

"Hunting purposes?" Natasha asked raising an eyebrow.

"Draco's actual name means dragon," Regulus explained as they walked. "And it was said that the Malfoy's had some sort of affinity for the creatures. They could use them at will and command them as well as ride them."

"Sounds like something straight out of Lord of the Rings," Natasha muttered thinking of Hermione's favorite book.

Regulus smiled. "Indeed. But the Malfoys were also fundamentally blood supremacists and they would use their dragons to hunt Muggles for sport. The way that counts and nobles would raise their hounds to hunt stag and elk for royal hunts, the Malfoys used their dragons in the same way."

Natasha wrinkled her nose. "God, I'm beginning to realize just how good of a decision it was to walk away from the wizarding world."

"There are ups and downs to every society," Regulus said modestly. "For example blood supremacy is the same thing as racism and don't get me started on the Holocaust."

"We can talk history some other time," Natasha said as they finally stopped outside the landing bay doors. "Are you staying here tonight or going home to see Tuney?"

"I'm going back to England," Regulus said. "I've been away all week. I wouldn't mind the weekend with Tuney and the kids. You?"

"I'm staying here," Natasha replied. "Hermione's in New York with her friend from school remember. I'd probably be better if I stay in the same continent so any trouble that may find her I may be able to get to first."

Regulus smirked. "I wish someone had told me earlier that having kids was this difficult."

Natasha chuckled. "And just wait until they're teenagers. Having normal teenagers is difficult enough but when you have kids who can use magic…"

She trailed off and didn't finish which prompted Regulus to grimace. "Don't remind me. I'll see you in a few days."

He walked back off down the hall to the elevators and Natasha reached for the doors to open the landing bay where she would meet Amelia Bones and her niece Susan.

_Show time._

Ω

_Magical Congress sure is impressive, _Hermione thought to herself.

After they had grabbed a slice of pizza at a small Italian joint across from Times Square, it had taken almost an hour to find the Woolworth Building which was the sight of the magical congress.

It reminded Hermione a little of pictures she had seen of the capital building in Washington where the muggle congress met with its dedication to stark white colors, marble floors and bevelled pillars.

It was disguised as a building that had long been abandoned and only those people with magic could see it so to the Muggles that were walking past on the sidewalk didn't even turn their attention to the impressive structure.

_That's too bad, I bet they would enjoy the view._

"Here we are," Pandora said with a flourish as she were introducing them to some grand relic from the past.

The moment they stepped inside the doors however Hermione and Luna were bombarded with a mass of people all going in different directions. The air was warm and the low sounds of voices from hundreds of people rumbled and bounced off the walls.

There were people in dark blue uniforms with the emblem of the magical congress stitched on the breast pocket as well as magically operated lifts at the back of the room. There was no ceiling, only miles upon miles of levels that seemed to go on forever above their heads.

"Well this is going to take longer than I thought," Hermione said.

One of the sharply dressed men in the room pointed them to a lift with the exact level they should be at along with the room with the archives that contained the memoirs of the Goshawks.

As soon as they arrived there, the task proved to be even more daunting as the Goshawks had an absurd amount of records.

"This is going to take forever," Luna groaned.

"Patience my love," Pandora said. "This is the first lead we've gotten in Merlin knows how long. Come, we don't need to look at the histories of the curse breakers because we already know which one we're looking for. Let's begin with Marek and work our way back to see if there are any other of his relatives had a sighting of the enormous sea serpent we think is Jormungandr.

So they did.

Luna, Hermione and Pandora spent the next three hours looking through Marek Goshawk's records about his many relatives and finds that he had had over the years.

While it was interesting, it wasn't exactly helpful.

Hermione then began to wonder whether or not Goshawk's records about his encounter with the giant serpent where even in the archives as the encompassed such a small part of his life.

When she mentioned this to Luna, the small blonde looked beyond discouraged.

"Perhaps we should head back to the hotel," Pandora suggested. "It is getting late. We can come back tomorrow little moon."

"Very well mother," Luna said quietly.

"Hey," Hermione said putting her hand on her cousin's shoulder as they made their way out. "Don't worry, we'll find him."

She nodded. "I know. I just had this grand idea in my head about finding my brother before school started again. I know that Mum's not his real mother but I thought…well I thought maybe he would like to stay with us for a while. He's been alone for so long and maybe it would do him some good to have some more family around. You're his cousin to you know."

Hermione sighed. "I know."

_I also need to check in with Mum and tell her that we came up with nothing on day one, _the strawberry blonde thought grimly. _She'll want to know._

As they made their way back to the hotel, Hermione focused on taking in the sights and sounds of New York City as she had never been there before and it would most likely be a while before she would be back.

When they arrived back at the hotel, Luna went straight up to take a shower and Hermione waited outside to make a call.

She slipped her cell phone from her pocket and punched in the numbers for her Mum's private line.

It was time to check in.

Ω

_A few hours earlier…_

So far so good.

Amelia Bones didn't seem to recognize Natasha at all from their encounter eight years earlier and seemed more preoccupied with looking around SHIELD headquarters and seemed rather impressed by what she saw.

Her approval had nothing to do with her niece's however as young Susan Bones was practically bouncing with excitement as she looked around.

"Auntie," Natasha heard her say as she led the two witches down the hall. "I know I said that I want to go into Magical Law Enforcement when I get older but now I think I might want to be a SHIELD shadow agent like Agent Romanov. No offense but what they do sounds much more interesting."

"More interesting than apprehending magical criminals and tracking down cursed items?" Amelia said with a smirk.

Susan squirmed slightly. "Well maybe but here they actually teach you combat skills and how to deal with Muggle electronics. Didn't you always tell me that the best way to learn was to do all kinds of different things? Muggles don't have magic but they've made up for it by making their lives easier with all sorts of different devices."

"That I did Susie."

"Well then I want to learn all that I can too!"

Amelia and Natasha exchanged amused glances.

Upon their meeting in the airplane hanger, Susan had recognized Natasha immediately when she had come to the school after the Sorcerer's Stone debacle and eagerly told her aunt that this was her friend's mum.

Amelia in turn had shaken Natasha's hand firmly and after a few minutes of quiet conversation while Susan looked around and marveled at the planes, Amelia had asked if

Natasha was a witch as well.

Natasha had confirmed that she was but that she did not practice as much as she used to having left the life mostly behind when her parents had died and she had been adopted by a Russian man who was a Muggle.

She still used her wand but at the same along with her gun in tandem.

"I find using Muggle tech and magic in tandem works with even better results than using one or the other."

"You seem to be a big proponent of the both and method," Amelia observed and Natasha smirked.

"What people haven't seemed to have figured out thus far is that neither method is better than the other. They're just different. And when they are used together, they increase the power of the individual two fold."

"Does Director Fury know you are in possession of magic Agent Romanov?" Amelia asked.

"It's Natasha please," the red head said. "And no he does not. I find that secrets run rampant in this place and the longer you stay the more you have. However it wouldn't surprise me if he did know. Fury doesn't recruit just anyone and the more highly skilled the person is the better."

"How long has SHIELD been in operation Agent Romanov?" Susan asked politely.

Natasha gave her daughter's best friend a smile. "Since the early twentieth century Susan. Howard Stark was one of the Founders and his son Anthony is now carrying on his legacy."

"You've met the weapons specialist Tony Stark?" Amelia asked as they passed one of the training barracks.

Natasha barely repressed a grimace. "I did. I had to partner with him a few months ago on an assignment."

"What's he like?"

"…Eccentric."

"I've heard he's also very handsome," Susan said somewhat dreamily.

Natasha smirked. "I think he's a little old for you sweetheart. Besides, Stark's a bit…strange. Even I haven't figured him out."

_I hope someone does though._

She cast a sidelong glance at the small red head out of the side of her eye and remembered something Hermione had told her about Harry possibly having a bit of a crush on Susan.

_Hmm maybe there is something I will need to speak to Regulus about when I get home, _Natasha thought smirking. _Can't have my godson getting in too over his head now can I?_

They had just about finished with their tour when Natasha's earpiece went off.

"Romanov," the harsh voice of the director barked over the frequency.

She immediately pushed the button to open the airway. "Yes director."

"I need you to come to my office immediately," he said. "There's been a breach in one of our warehouses in New York City."

Natasha muttered a curse in Russian under her breath. "Very well, I will show Madam Bones and her niece to the Landing bay and then I will be right up."

"No need," Fury barked. "Bring them with you."

Natasha blinked as her comm-link went dead and she muttered something under breath.

"Is there something wrong?" Amelia asked.

Natasha cleared her throat. "It seems that the director wishes to see the both of us in his office."

"Cool!" Susan burst out and Natasha blinked, forgetting that the youngest Bones was there.

"Very well," Amelia said. "Shall we go?"

After leading the head of the DMLE to the elevators where they rose several flights to the top of the building, the doors slid open silently and the three individuals strode down a long hallway lined with glass windows and in which once could see the capital building and the congress building from the walkway.

"Wow," Susan whispered and Natasha smiled.

At the end of the hallway they reached a tall glass door with a silver handle. There were no words emblazed on the door marked director as everyone in SHIELD knew that Fury was the only one with an office in this section of the building.

"Here we are," Natasha said quietly.

She pushed the door open as Fury didn't really like people knocking if he was expecting them.

The moment they stepped into the cool quiet, the three women were faced with an expanse of walls that were all glass and looked down on Washington DC from a great height.

There was only a single desk in the room along with two chairs sitting in front of it.

No computers rested on the desk but Natasha knew that every window in the director's office doubled as a computer screen that could be used at any time.

Fury himself was standing behind the desk looking out the window with his hands folded behind his back. He was dressed in his customary all black and he didn't even turn when they neared his desk.

"Romanov," he said.

"Director," she said.

The man turned around and it did Amelia and Susan credit when they didn't act surprised at the first thing they saw which was the fact that the director only had one eye.

For most people it was surprising if not a little startling but judging that Amelia must have run her own facility as a variation of Fury's jurisdiction she was most likely used to seeing a lot of disturbing things.

But that was neither here nor there at that point.

"Director may I introduce Amelia Bones the head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement in the Ministry of Magic in London and her niece Susan Bones. Amelia, Susan, Director Fury."

"It is a pleasure Director," Amelia said stepping forward to shake Fury's hand.

The man had an iron grip and there was no form of flattery to be found in him. He shook her hand and then gestured to the two chairs where they might sit down.

Susan stood behind her aunt's chair, looking at Fury with wide eyes.

Natasha wanted to smirk when she saw her face. Most people were intimidated by Fury when they met him. Amelia was the exception in that she had dealt with hardened criminals for most of her career.

She privately wondered how Hermione would react if she saw him…or Thor for that matter.

"What seems to be the problem boss?" Natasha asked as she folded her hands in her lap.

"As I informed you earlier there has been a breach in one of our warehouses in New York City," Fury went on. "It was one of our secure weapons holding facilities. Normally it is well maintained but the breach is strange."

"What sort of weapons do you house there Director?" Amelia asked.

"All sorts Miss Bones," Fury replied. "Weapons to freeze, weapons to melt, weapons to control the mind and ensnare the senses, weapons to render others useless and bio chemical weapons most of all."

"Essentially weapons of mass destruction," Natasha grumbled.

"Yes."

"When did the breach occur?" Natasha asked.

"Eight minutes ago," Fury replied. "One of our agents on sight was able to get communications to one of the computers in our satellite sections five minutes ago before his communications link went dead. As soon as I was informed I called you."

"Any look at what the perpetrators look like?" Natasha asked.

"He said they seemed to be covered in some form of metal armor that made them solid but not slow. The weapons indicate a rare form of machine gun that has been used in the Middle East for combating tank warfare."

Natasha cursed.

"What is it?" Amelia asked.

"You've never seen a tank before have you Bones?" Natasha asked.

The other red head shook her head.

Immediately the director pulled up a picture on the wall of windows/computer screens of a standard vehicle of war. "This is a tank Miss Bones. It is capable of launching explosives hundreds of yards and depending on the size of the tank and the power of the explosive it can take out a small town."

Amelia's face muscles tightened. "And the weapons that these men are carrying are able to combat such a vehicle?"

"You got that right," Fury said. "Which makes them very dangerous."  
He turned to Natasha. "Romanov, I'm sending you and a small team in to investigate. The breach occurred on the outskirts of the warehouse property but seeing as how it is a building housing weapons with the potential for mass destruction, it is a sensitive matter."

"Just how far outside of New York is the warehouse?" Amelia asked.

"About a mile away from New York harbor," Fury went on showing them the coordinates of the place on a lit up screen. "The weapons are mostly chemical and have had their ions placed in a state of flux so that they cannot be used. But they are capable of weaponization and should they be removed and weaponized – "

"New York City," Natasha said quietly thinking instantly of her daughter and her niece. "8.4 million people will be at risk."

"Then I suggest you get on it," Fury said. "I am having the closest agents meet you there. The plane is already in the hangar."

"Director if I may," Amelia broke in. "There is a faster way to get to New York City via magic."

Fury's expression didn't change but Natasha could tell that he was surprised. "You want in on this Bones?"

Amelia's expression changed to a cold smile. "With all due respect sir, I was invited here as a way to close the gap between Muggle and Magical law enforcement. How best can I see how you operate other than seeing your agents in action and helping when needed."

"She does have a point sir," Natasha said slowly. "And we're wasting time. Every minute we delay these unknown agents could get closer and closer to the warehouse. If Amelia wants to come and see how we operate…then by all means I think we should let her."

"You know what to do Romanov," Fury said after a two second.

He glanced at Amelia. "Just don't get yourself killed Miss Bones. I would hate to have to let the Ministry of Magic in Britain know that their representative has been killed on an act of Muggle terrorism."

Amelia's answering smile was all teeth. "I've been taking down criminals for ten years sir. I know how to hold me own in a fight."

Fury didn't smile but he did seem amused. "Alright then. Get on it. I'll have someone take your niece to the training facilities so she may resume the tour of our headquarters."

"Thank you sir."

Immediately both red heads got to their feet and strode for the door.

"I hope you know what you're getting into Amelia," Natasha replied as soon as they had received the coordinates and stepped outside the door. "Muggle war is far different from magical war and somewhat more dangerous too."

Amelia's answering smile was all teeth. "Trust me Natasha. I like to learn on the job."

Natasha smirked. _I knew there was a reason I liked her, even all these years later. _

"Alright then," she said. "By all means…shall we?"

Amelia held out her arm for Natasha to take as apparating with two people was simpler than apparating two at the same time.

Having received the coordinates and images of the place, Amelia closed her eyes and spun on her heel.

There was a bright flash, a loud crack and both agents disappeared from Washington altogether.

Ω

**Okay, so a little bit of a cliff hanger there. In the next chapter, Amelia and Natasha race to stop the detonation of a bio chemical weapon on New York City and Hermione and Luna and Pandora continue the search for Jormungandr. We will also check in with Thor and see how he is doing. Also in the next chapter or perhaps the one after we will see the beginning of second year and some interesting developments as well. I also feel as if I should make you guys aware that the magical world and SHIELD will be in much closer contact after this. Not only Natasha and Hermione will play an interesting role in the battles to come. Also I wanted to make a note of something that you read in chapter 24 regarding the timeline. In Hogwarts year four we will be dealing not only with Winter Soldier, but also Thor: The Dark World as well. Natasha will have an interesting role to play in that. Well that's all for now, as always I hoped you enjoyed the chapter and happy reading everyone!**


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